Christmas with Fang
by EverDreamer
Summary: It's Fang vs. Lightning in the Farron household, but will Christmas be ruined when the pranks get out of hand? FangxVanille/ SerahxSnow. R&R. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Author's Note: Hi! I'm finally back with another story. This is a Christmas tale featuring the FFXIII characters. It will probably be short. It's pretty AU, and I'm not sure that I've managed them in character, but I hope you enjoy the story anyway. I started with a comedy in mind, but it turned out rather dramatic so we'll see where it goes. Anyway, the story is set in a world where there is no sequel to FFXIII (since I did not play FF13-2). Hope you like it!

WARNING: This story contains some minor mature themes, minor spoilers for the FFXIII game, and lesbians. Continue at your own risk.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's very sad.

_'Twas twelve days before Christmas, and all through the town of Troth, not a creature was stirring, (thankfully) not even a King Behemoth. In the Farron residence on a secluded country road, three bodies slept peacefully while outside it snowed. Holly trims hung 'round windows and doors, while strings of lights dangled from railings outdoors. The tree was majestic and the stockings were hung; though it was early, all the preparations were done. The cards had been mailed and the presents all bought; everyone was ready for what the Christmas season brought, but what was disguised by joy one could not contain was that no one was ready for Christmas with Fang._

Enthusiastic knocking hammered against her bedroom door, creating thunder that promptly awoke Lightning from her semi-pleasant dream. She threw the covers off and her feet landed on the floor in a swift, fluid movement.

With a glare, Lightning dragged herself across the room. A part of her had considered simply shouting that she was not yet ready to leave her room, but she thought that it would be worth it to see Snow wet himself in person when he saw the look on her face. Besides, punching him always made her feel better no matter what the situation.

The eldest of the two Farron sisters had long ago accepted that Snow was going to marry her baby sister within a year. Although she was still somewhat touchy on the subject, since she was the one who was supposed to protect and care for Serah, her journey as a l'Cie had shown her that Snow was willing to go to the ends of the earth for his fiancee. She still considered Snow to be a giant idiot with a pea-sized brain at times, but he was more devoted to Serah than any other boy the younger girl had dated and Lightning had to admit that he was pretty strong.

Well, she didn't have to admit it _out loud_.

Yes, Lightning Farron, the externally cold-hearted ex-soldier and ex-l'Cie, had decided that Snow was allowed to marry her beloved little sister, on two conditions. He was never to hurt Serah or make her upset for any reason, and he was never, _ever_ to speak of anything that he and Serah did in their private time. Actually, Lightning had told Snow that she would tear him limb-from-limb if he ever so much as touched her little sister (even after they were married), but he probably knew what she meant.

In spite of deciding that it was fine for Snow to marry her sister, Lightning did not feel that she had to give him any indication that she liked, respected, or approved of him. In fact, now that their journey was over, it was her duty to her sister to frighten Snow into submission so that he would never even consider hurting her or breaking her heart.

When the knock sounded again, Lightning realized that she was just standing in the center of the room staring at the door. She crossed the room in three bounding steps and took a moment to prepare herself, the biggest glare she could muster growing on her face, before she threw the door open.

"_What?!_"

"C-Claire, are you mad at me?" Serah smiled nervously. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's fine. I'm not mad." Lighting's look softened somewhat. "What do you want?"

Serah gave a relaxed sigh, smiling pleasantly. "Well, everyone's coming today. I didn't think you'd want to be asleep when they got here."

Lightning stared blankly at her sister for a good minute.

"You know, everyone's coming for Christmas—all our friends." Serah bit her lip. "Remember? You said it was fine if everyone stayed."

"Oh. Right."

Serah had somehow managed to convince her that it would be a great idea for all of their friends to stay in her house during the holidays. After all, Serah had explained, they had not seen each other in quite some time. After the destruction of Cocoon and the rescue of Fang and Vanille from their crystallized prison, everyone had decided to go their separate ways. Sazh had opted to live in the city of Korrin, the capital of New Cocoon, so that his son could have a proper education. Meanwhile, Lightning, Snow and Serah had decided to move to Troth, a town that was only about fifteen minutes from Korrin during good weather. Hope, upon discovering that his father was still alive, had decided to remain with his family in Korrin. Vanille and Fang, much to everyone else's dismay, had disappeared completely, telling their friends that they would travel back to the ruins of Oerba to salvage what they could and sort out their memories.

Lightning had accepted that she would likely never see them again. Fortunately—or unfortunately, she was not always sure—they had received a letter from Fang not long ago that read: _Heard you were having a party. Sounds like fun._

After contacting all of their friends, everyone assured them that they had had no contact with Fang since her departure with Vanille, which left them questioning how she possibly could know about their celebration plans. They had also been able to assume that letter meant that the two Gran Pulsian women would be joining them. No one had been more pleased than Serah.

"Won't it be so exciting to see everyone again?" Serah gushed conversationally. "I've been so busy teaching in the Troth Schoolhouse that I haven't had much time to think about it, but it's been so long."

Lightning scoffed, crossing her arms stubbornly. "I have more important things to do than stroll down memory lane."

"Like what?" Serah smiled knowingly.

Lightning merely pursed her lips.

Serah giggled, insisting, "You're excited to see them, too. I know you are."

Lightning did not respond, shrugging past her sister as she walked toward the bathroom. It was cold in the house, but she did not bother putting on her slippers because her bedroom was so close to her destination.

"It's cold," Serah informed her with a frown. "You'll get sick."

"I don't get sick."

"I put clean towels under the counter for you!" Serah chirped, shaking her head and smiling wryly when her sister shut the door on her.

Turning away, Serah hummed to herself as she practically skipped down the hall.

Although Christmas was a rather unusual tradition that had gained popularity throughout their new world very recently, the idea of the celebration filled Serah with a warm, mushy feeling that she could scarcely explain. It was difficult to imagine someone thinking it a good idea to cut down a tree, lug it inside of the house, decorate it with shiny trinkets, and place presents beneath it that could only be opened on a special day, but somehow it all seemed very magical. The only day that gave her more excitement was her wedding day, but since that would not come for some time, she could not wait to see her friends smiling faces as they opened their gifts in twelve days.

When Serah reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned toward the kitchen. A squeak of surprise escaped her lips as arms suddenly wrapped around her waist.

Snow rested his chin against the top of her head, smiling warmly. "Did you finally get Claire out of bed?"

Serah nodded, giggling as she turned around and buried herself in Snow's chest. "Don't call her that. She doesn't like it."

"But she's practically my sister now," Snow argued cheerfully.

Serah bit her lip, smiling as she hugged his arm. "Did you make breakfast?"

He looked away sheepishly. "I _tried_ to make breakfast, but..."

With a warm smile, she placed her hands on her love's shoulders and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I bet it's is fine. Let's go try it together."

"You may not want to." Snow gave her a guilty look. "I kind of burned the eggs, and I don't know what I did to the bacon, but it's not really edible."

Serah covered her mouth to conceal her giggle and took one of his giant hands into her own before tugging him into the kitchen. When the smell of ruined food drifted into her nostrils, Serah wrinkled her nose as she attempted to conceal her reaction, but ultimately she found herself unable to resist teasing him.

"I'll make something else. While I'm doing that, will you check the smoke alarm?" Serah inquired as she began washing out the pan of ruined food.

"Sure. Why?" Snow gave her a perplexed look. "Has it been acting up?"

"Well, it must be broken if it didn't go off while you were making this," Serah replied with a playful giggle.

"Oh." Snow laughed lightly and stepped forwards to wrap his arms around her from behind. He kissed her cheek before pulling away. "You're right. I'll go check it."

Serah watched him go with a brilliant smile on her face before she resumed washing the pan out and humming to herself. The Christmas season was going to be absolutely magical.

xxx

An hour later, after showering and getting dressed, Lightning walked into the kitchen, her wet hair hanging loosely over her shoulder. She found her sister seated alone at the table flipping through a bridal magazine. Ever since the younger girl had decided on a spring wedding, it seemed like she never stopped planning. Lightning swore she had seen her sister come out of the shower with a bridal magazine in her hand once, but Serah steadfastly denied it.

Serah had never asked Lightning to help her with any of the planning, so the ex-soldier assumed that everything must be going well. More evidence of that was the fact that Serah had not yet clawed someone's eyes out. In spite of her sweet and innocent demeanor, Lightning had witnessed one or two true bridezilla moments—one of which had led to Serah totaling her older sister's air car as she chased a wedding planner all the way from their home in Troth to her office in Korrin.

"Good morning again," Serah chirped happily as she glanced up from her magazine. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Yeah, just not whatever _he_ set on fire."

Serah pouted. "Claire, he means well."

"Well, don't let him _mean well_ in my kitchen anymore." Lightning rolled her eyes. "The whole house smells."

"Well, I love him, Claire, and he wants to learn to cook, so I'm going to encourage him," Serah replied with a pout. "Isn't that a good thing? When we have kids, they'll see that both of their parents know how to cook."

"Or he'll poison them to death," Lightning muttered under her breath as she pulled a coffee mug out of the cupboard.

"Claire!" Serah gasped. "Please, don't say that."

The two of them sunk into silence as Lightning began to pour herself a cup of coffee.

While Serah resumed paging through her bridal magazines, Lightning tried to imagine what kind of children her sister and Snow would have together. Then suddenly it dawned on her that since they would be married within the year, they would most likely begin their married life in _her_ house. What they would do with each other in order to have children notwithstanding, there was no way that she could tolerate little Snow replicas running around trashing her home.

Lightning was just about to ask her sister if she and Snow were looking for somewhere else to live when Serah mumbled, "Do you think we'll have enough room for everyone here?"

Knowing that her sister would not give her a chance to reply, Lighting shrugged and began to serve herself some of the eggs that Serah had made.

"Let's see." Serah pushed her magazine aside and tapped her index finger tentatively on her chin. "You have your room, and Snow and I have our room. Then there's the bedroom in the attic, the couches in the family room, and the sofa bed in the basement. It would be kind of cruel to make the girls sleep on the couches, right?"

Lightning scoffed. "I thought Fang could sleep outside."

"Claire, it's so cold out!" Serah gasped, shaking her head. "Anyway, two of the boys visiting are just kids, so I think that Sazh and Dajh can take the sofa bed... You don't think Fang and Vanille will mind sharing a room, will they?"

Lightning stared at her sister. "No."

"Are you sure? The bed in the attic is kind of cramped, and Fang is so tall." Serah frowned thoughtfully. "Claire, maybe Fang could sleep in your room, I could sleep in Vanille's room, and Hope could sleep in my room with Snow. Then everyone would get a bed."

"I'm not sleeping with Fang," Lightning assured her sister.

"But the bed in the attic is so small! Fang will be uncomfortable," Serah insisted.

Lighting rolled her eyes. "They didn't mind sharing _one_ sleeping bag."

"Really?" Serah tilted her head curiously. "Why didn't they just buy another one?"

With a scoff, she replied, "Why do you think?"

"Oh." Serah blinked, her eyes widening faintly, and then cleared her throat. "So, Fang and Vanille can share the attic. I guess Sazh and Dajh can sleep on the sofa bed and Hope can either sleep on the couch in the basement or in the family room. We'll let him decide. That way if he's afraid of the dark or something, he won't have to be embarrassed."

Lightning nodded absently, her mind beginning to wander. She had many concerns about their friends staying with them, because she had purchased the house only a year ago. When she had first discovered it, it had been in rather poor condition, but Lightning had been unable to find a job while her sister became a teacher and Snow maintained his position as the leader of NORA, which had become a large police force. Thus, the older Farron sister had decided to spend all her time and much of her money refurbishing the house. It was now gorgeous, appearing practically brand new, and she did not want everyone else to destroy it.

"What are you thinking about?" Serah asked curiously.

"Nothing." Lightning shrugged. "Thanks for breakfast."

"You didn't finish," Serah pointed out with a pout.

Lightning ignored her sister, pushing her plate away and moving to leave the room. Ever since the destruction of Cocoon and the start of their new life, she had been a bit antsy. Adjusting to her new position as an unemployed ex-soldier who people did not seem to readily trust or empathize with continued to be difficult.

"Wait!" Serah called out hastily. "Everyone is coming at one o'clock, Claire. Don't forget."

Lightning did not acknowledge her sister, but she would not soon forget.

xxx

The doorbell rang at precisely one o'clock in the afternoon, causing Serah to jump away from Snow and then giggle at her silliness because it was not as though they were doing anything too inappropriate. Serah believed that she and Snow should show their love and respect for each other by waiting until they were married to move forwards with their physical relationship. Snow had enthusiastically agreed with Serah when she had suggested their abstinence, all the more convincing her that he loved her dearly and they were meant to be together.

"Is Light back yet?" Snow murmured gently as he hastily slid off of the bed.

Serah was about to tell her fiancé that she had not even realized her sister had left the house when they heard the door swinging open downstairs.

"I guess she must be." Serah smiled faintly.

They walked out of their bedroom hand-in-hand and reached the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Hope excitedly throwing himself into Lightning's arms. The adolescent looked so excited that he might burst, but the ex-soldier looked a little uncomfortable as she patted his back.

"I missed you," Hope cried as he squeezed her tightly.

"Me, too," Lightning replied stiffly, though her eyes smiled sincerely.

Hope pulled away from her and grinned widely as he realized that the three of them were studying him. He had grown since they had last seen him. He was still shorter than all three of them, but he at least looked his age, much to his delight. During their journey as l'Cie, Hope had always felt embarrassed by the fact that he was so short compared to the others, but what he had wanted more than anything was to be taller than Vanille. He assumed that the pink-haired girl was around his age, excluding 500 years of crystal stasis, and he knew that girls were generally attracted to boys who were taller than themselves, so he could never admit his crush to her until now.

"Welcome to our home." Serah cried happily. "It's so nice to see you."

Lightning moved to shut the door as Hope and Serah embraced, and when she noticed that the cab driver was still sitting in the driveway, she gave him an annoyed look and he took the hint.

As Serah pulled away, Snow moved forwards to hug Hope before patting him on the head. "Heya, buddy. I missed you."

Hope smiled brightly before he glanced surreptitiously around. "Is anyone else here?"

"Nope. You're the first one, kid." Snow ruffled his hair.

"You were exactly on time," Lightning added suspiciously.

"Do you want to sleep in the basement or the family room, Hope?" Serah asked. "You'll get a couch either way."

Hope shrugged indifferently. "The basement, I guess."

"Okay."

Serah stepped toward Hope to take the teenager's bags, but Snow swept forwards, intercepting the luggage with his giant hands and winking. "I'll get those for you, honey."

"Thanks, Snow." Serah giggled adorably and leaned forwards to peck his lips. "You're the best."

"I'll do anything for you, Serah," Snow told her seriously.

Hope and Lightning shared a look and rolled their eyes.

"Well, make yourself at home, Hope." Serah motioned him further into the house. "Do you want anything to eat or drink? I bet it was a long trip from the city in this weather. Did you come alone?"

"My Dad was going to come, but at the last minute he was busy." Hope frowned faintly.

"Well, don't worry, kiddo." Snow clapped his hand on Hope's shoulder. "We're going to have a great time here. I've got three game systems and the latest games for all of 'em. You've got to come check it out."

"Really? I've been playing Skyline with Dajh."

"Dajh is old enough for that crap?" Lightning snorted, musing that he was hardly old enough to go to school.

"Of course, he is." Hope looked incredulously up at her. "I've been playing since I was his age."

"What happened to going outside?"

The doorbell rang and everyone froze as Lightning crossed the room to tug it open and found Sazh and Dajh stood bundled up in winter coats and hats.

"Merry Christmas!" Dajh shouted excitedly, a huge grin covering his innocent features.

Internally Lightning's heart wanted to melt for the adorable child, but she unconsciously guarded her emotions. So, she merely nodded stiffly and stepped out of the way for them to come inside.

"Merry Christmas, everybody." Sazh grinned eagerly as he tugged his son through the door with one hand and balanced two pieces of luggage in the other hand. "It's good to see you all again."

"It's nice to see you, too, old man," Snow replied, grinning widely. "Wait until you see the new games I got. I have some classics, too, but I have some new stuff that's just for the boys. You'll love it."

Lighting internally scoffed at the insinuation that some games were only meant for boys, since none of them were as badass as her and they all knew it. None of them could pull off a cape, after all.

"Hi, Dajh. It's nice to see you." Serah crouched down in front of him and smiled.

"It's nice to see you, too. My daddy says we're staying here for Christmas since you're our family."

Serah grinned, enchanted. "Do you want some hot chocolate? I can get you anything you want."

"I want hot chocolate!" Dajh glanced excitedly at his father. "Can I have some, daddy? Can I? Can I?"

"Sure, son. Enjoy yourself," Sazh replied distractedly as he followed Snow into the basement.

The doorbell rang again and Hope felt his heart stop, because there was only one person remaining—or rather, there were two, unfortunately.

Hope had been extremely disappointed when Fang and Vanille had left on another journey, because he had wanted to stay in touch with the pink-haired girl. He also regretted that he had never told Vanille about his feelings for her, because he had grown quite close to her during their journey together and he thought she might feel the same way. She had been so kind to him after his mother died, and he would never forget that she had refused to give up on him. Hope had never had the confidence to voice his feelings for Vanille to anyone in the group, not even the chocobo, but he was determined to finally make his feelings known, and the Christmas season was the perfect time.

There was only one problem: Fang.

Hope had originally thought that Fang was one of the coolest women he had ever met. She was strong, stubborn, and completely dedicated to her best friend. However, he could not help but notice that Fang was always around Vanille, which made it difficult to spend time alone with her. Vanille could clearly be apart from Fang, since she had been willing to leave her friend behind in the purge and do what she felt was right, which made it clear that Fang was clinging onto her friend and unwilling to let her move on with her life.

Lightning opened the door.

Hope immediately perked up, for his dreams had come true. Vanille stood alone in the doorway wearing a cute sweater that clung to her form, a hat, a scarf, mittens, her usual skirt, and a pair of stylish boots. The light from the outside seemed to catch her just right, causing a divine glow to envelop her.

"Brr!" Vanille shivered, smiling at Lightning. "It's so much colder up here than it is than it is down in Oerba. It never snowed once the whole time I lived there."

"Where's Fang?" Lightning asked, a force of habit.

"She had to run some errands in town, so—"

"Vanille, it's so good to see you again," Serah chirped happily as she emerged from the kitchen with Dajh's hot chocolate and set it on the table just outside of the younger boy's reach. "Where's Fang?"

Vanille stepped into the house and began to remove her scarf. "Oh, she wanted to run some last minute errands at the market."

"Seraaah, I can't reaaaach," Dajh whined loudly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Serah passed him the drink and patted his head. "Is it too hot?"

Dajh shook his head and began to slurp his drink. "Thank you!"

"Vanille!" Snow appeared from the basement with a large grin on his face and raced across the room to throw his arms around her. "It's good to see you, shorty. Where's Fang?"

"I'm not short," Vanille huffed with a smile. "You're just tall."

"Hey there, little one." Sazh waited until Snow released her before hugging Vanille tightly. "What happened to Fang?"

"I'm _not_ little, and Fang just went into town to run some errands," Vanille replied with an impatient look. "You make it sound like we go everywhere together."

Everyone seemed to share a look before Snow chuckled. "You _do_ go everywhere together."

"What kind of errands?" Lightning interrupted suspiciously.

Vanille shrugged, grinning innocently. "Fang just patted my head and said it was a secret. I think she wants to surprise me."

"How?" Lightning demanded.

"I dunno." Vanille giggled. "Fang never tells me anything."

"Well, I'm sure Fang will show up later." Snow clapped his hand on Vanille's shoulder. "Now that almost everyone's here, let the fun begin!"

xxx

Night had fallen, and little snow crystals were falling delicately to the ground. There was still no sign of Fang, and everyone except for one person seemed concerned by her absence. The fact that Vanille was giggling happily with everyone as though she did not have a care in the world left Lightning certain that Fang was not really running errands. In fact, she was positive that Fang was instead going to pull yet another one of her irritating and usually dangerous pranks. Furthermore, Vanille knew about it but had been sworn to secrecy.

Lightning was so suspicious that when Vanille excused herself to use the bathroom, the ex-soldier hastily stood up to follow her. She would not question her in front of the others, who thought Vanille was so sweet. They would defend her, but as far as Lightning was concerned, Vanille spent enough time with Fang that she had to be as least three times less innocent than she looked.

Vanille was just opening the door to the bathroom at the top of the stairs when Lightning pushed her into the room, turned on the light and shut the door.

"What is Fang up to?" Lightning demanded, cornering the other girl. "This is a new house, so I swear if she burns it down or blows something up or—"

"Fang's not doing anything," Vanille interrupted with a giggle. "I think she wanted to get everyone presents."

"You expect me to believe that she still has to do her Christmas shopping?" Lightning crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "No one, least of all Fang, would be stupid enough to wait this long."

"Well, we didn't really have a chance to get any presents in Oerba," Vanille pointed out.

"Oh." Lightning frowned as she realized that Fang would not have had anywhere to purchase gifts. "What about you? Are you not giving presents?"

"I made mine in Oerba," Vanille chirped with a proud smile.

Lightning raised a brow and wondered what kind of gift someone could conceivably make in the wilderness. "Oh."

"I'm really excited to show everyone," Vanille squealed happily.

Unsure how to reply, Lightning sunk into her thoughts and tried to think of anything that Fang could do that might cause damage to her newly renovated house. Even if Fang had been Christmas shopping, it seemed unlikely that it would take her so long. Besides, it was well past dark. Why had she not simply decided to come back to the house and go shopping again tomorrow?

No, Fang was most certainly up to something, and Lightning was going to figure out what it was if it killed her.

Vanille bit her lip, shifting uncomfortably. "Sooo...can I go to the bathroom now?"

Lightning realized where they were and nodded swiftly, turning to leave the room. "Sorry."

By the time Lightning returned to the family, everyone was playing video games and Sazh was practically dragging his son away from the controller.

"It's bedtime, son," Sazh exclaimed.

"But I don't wanna go!" Dajh pouted. "It's not fair, Daddy. We're on vacation."

Sazh laughed, patting his head. "We can play more games tomorrow. We'll be here for almost two weeks."

Lightning pursed her lips, sitting down on the couch as she tried to figure out how her sister had convinced her that this was a good idea.

Dajh set down his controller and waved goodnight to everyone just as Vanille was coming down the stairs, so she picked up the controller that he left behind.

"You want to play?" Hope asked, eyes wide.

"Why not?" Vanille grinned at him, nudging his shoulder. "Are you afraid I'll beat you?"

Hope shook his head quickly back and forth. "I'll teach you how to play!"

In spite of Hope's desire to impress Vanille, it turned out that she was the best at every game that she tried. It was impossible for her to have played video games before, which left all the other players in awe of her talent.

"How are you so good at this?!" Hope gasped when Vanille won her fifteenth battle in a row on the two-player fighting game.

"I guess I'm a natural," Vanille boasted with a grin.

"Hey, if your aim was this good in real life, we could use your help in NORA," Snow commented lightheartedly, though he seemed just as amazed as the others.

Vanille merely giggled and continued playing.

xxx

The hours continued to pass, everyone laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying themselves. Even Lightning loosened up and joined in the antics, which made everyone feel like a family.

However, eventually Vanille began to look a little disturbed, frequently getting up to look out the window. As everyone began to sober, the laughter dying down, it was clear that they were all wondering the same thing: Where was Fang? All the stores in town would have closed around ten, and it was almost one in the morning. Even if the dark-haired Gran Pulsian had actually been Christmas shopping, she was certainly no longer doing so.

"We should go look for Fang," Serah mumbled, glancing at Snow. "Shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, we definitely should." Snow placed his hand on Vanille's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry. I'm sure everything's fine."

"We definitely should _not_ look for Fang," Lightning contradicted with a grave look. "This is a prank. She wants us to leave the house."

"Why would she want that?" Serah asked.

Lightning pursed her lips. "I haven't figured that out yet, but I know it's a prank."

"Is it a prank, Vanille?" Sazh met eyes with the younger girl, who he had grown quite close to during their journey. "We gotta know before we go looking for her."

"It isn't," Vanille insisted, looking nervous as she wrung her hands together. "Fang said she was gonna shop in town for a few hours and told me to go ahead without her. I shouldn't have listened, but I thought she must want to surprise us. What if something happened to her?!"

"Maybe it _is_ a prank and Fang just didn't tell you," Hope suggested.

"No..." Vanille shook her head. "Fang hasn't played a prank without telling me since she was fifteen. Maybe I'll go look for her by myself. If something's happened to her, I just have to help her. I won't lose her again."

"I'll go with you, Vanille," Serah assured her firmly.

"Me, too." Snow wrapped his arm around Serah's waist as he smiled at Vanille. "If Fang needs us, we'll both be there."

"I'll help you, too, Vanille!" Hope assured her heroically. "We won't let you lose your best friend."

"Oh, Hope, you're so sweet," Vanille gushed, throwing her arms around the younger boy's neck before smiling at everyone. "You're all so sweet. Thank you."

"I'll have to sit this one out," Sazh exclaimed apologetically. "My son's downstairs sleeping. I can't leave him in the house alone."

"I'll go," Lightning told the others with a dark look, "but this better not be a prank or I'll kill her."

"It's _not_ a prank," Vanille insisted.

"And no one is going to kill anyone," Serah insisted with a stern frown.

"Speak for yourself," Lightning grunted. "Let's go. If she's hurt, we need to find her."

xxx

While Sazh went into the basement to check on his son, everyone else bundled up in winter attire. Lightning was the first one to leave the house, stomping outside partly because she had been cooped up for so long and partly because she was irritated with Fang. She hardly wanted to find the other girl, who she had befriended and grown to respect as they journeyed together, because she just knew that the Gran Pulsian would wreak havoc on her newly refurbished home.

How had Fang found out about Christmas anyway?!

Vanille was the last person to finish getting ready because she had to change into warmer clothes, and when she was halfway out the door, Serah put her arms out to stop her.

"Wait, Vanille! I left my keys on the counter, but my boots are wet. Can you get the keys for me? They're on the counter." Serah smiled warmly. "We'll start looking for Fang, and maybe by the time you come outside, we'll have found her."

"Okay." Vanille smiled sweetly.

"Thank you!"

Vanille skipped back into the house, closing the door behind her to keep out the cold, and turned to face the kitchen. The reflection of a dark figure appeared in a mirror on the wall and Vanille gasped in surprise, spinning around. Before she could scream, a warm hand covered her mouth.

The familiar scent, the tender touch, and the playful chuckle caused her to relax. Only partially upset, Vanille demanded, "Is this a prank?"

"You bet it is," Fang replied enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, who cuddled against her. "You weren't worried about me, were ya?"

"Of course not," Vanille sniffed, burying her face in her chest. "Why didn't you tell me it was a prank? I wouldn't have told anyone."

"I can't tell my secrets to little ones, now can I?" Fang teased in her ear, laughing when Vanille pulled away from her and crossed her arms.

"I'm _not_ little anymore, so you don't get to say that," Vanille insisted stubbornly, though the corners of her lips turned up slightly because she loved that Fang remembered so much of their childhood.

"Now there's a pretty smile," Fang teased, smirking when Vanille blushed.

"I've gotta go back outside and pretend to look for you or they'll think I was in on the prank," Vanille murmured suddenly, promptly turning to walk into the kitchen.

"Where d'you think you're going?" Fang protested, wrapping her arms around Vanille from behind. "I could always just tell them I subdued you. I'll even tie you up if you want."

"Fang!" Vanille protested with a grin. "This isn't funny! I have to go. I told Serah I'd get the keys for her."

"I don't want them to have the keys yet," Fang insisted as she hugged her a little more tightly. "So, you'll just have to wait."

"Why don't you want them to have the keys?" Vanille glanced over her shoulder as she unconsciously relaxed into Fang's hold, her arms covering Fang's.

"I need them out of the house so I'll have time to set up a few pranks—harmless ones, really," Fang replied gleefully. "Of course, I'm a little disappointed. I thought you'd worry about me earlier."

"It serves you right for playing pranks," Vanille replied with a smile.

"Oh, really?" Fang began to tickle her sides.

"Wait, stop!" Vanille giggled. Lowering her voice, she insisted, "Sazh is downstairs. He'll hear us."

"Will you behave?" Fang asked playfully.

Vanille nodded her head, twisting to look at her. "Why do you have to play pranks, Fang? They're our friends."

"Exactly," Fang replied flippantly, kissing the top of her head. "You can't play pranks on anyone else. You get yourself killed that way."

Vanille laughed again, leaning back against her with a pleasant sigh. "I missed you."

Fang smirked. "I was only gone a few hours."

With a pout, Vanille asked, "Didn't you miss me?"

"I always miss you." Fang rested her cheek against the top of Vanille's head. "Anyway, you'll have to miss me a few more hours."

"You won't make me sleep alone, will you?" Vanille tightened her grip on Fang's arms.

"Don't worry. I'll set everything up quickly." Fang squeezed her gently around the waist. "No one's making you sleep alone. I just wanna have some fun before bed."

"Fun with the others?" Vanille pouted.

Fang smirked, pressing her lips close to Vanille's ear. "Doesn't mean _we_ can't have fun after."

Vanille giggled lightly. "Do you really have to play pranks?"

"Yep. It's in my nature. I can't help the way I was born," Fang replied as she pulled away. "See you later."

The younger Gran Pulsian did not bother turning around to look for Fang, because she could hear the other girl sneaking up the stairs. She waited a few moments, not sure how long Fang needed, before plucking the keys off of the kitchen counter and leaving the house.

xxx

"I walked all over town, but I didn't see her." Lightning glanced around suspiciously as everyone reconvened inside the warmth of the Farron household.

Everyone looked chilled and miserable, but Lighting seemed to be in a worse state. Her cheeks and nose were red and her eyes were watery. Her nose was running and she appeared exhausted, which was unusual.

Serah came up beside her sister and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, examining her face with a frown. "Are you all right, Claire? You don't look well."

"I'm fine." Lightning looked annoyed. "Are _you_ all right? You're the one who was wandering through the snow for two hours looking for her with that big, useless oaf you call a fiancé!"

"Claire!" Serah pouted. "I thought you two were doing better."

Lightning frowned and looked away, since she was just in a bad mood.

"Let me check your temperature," Serah begged. "You might have a cold."

"I don't catch colds." Lightning have never so much as sneezed, at least not since her parents died. There had never been time to rest. "I don't get sick."

"Is your name really Claire?" Sazh suddenly appeared from the kitchen with a few cups of hot chocolate.

Lighting glared at him, since only Serah was allowed to use that name. "No. My name is Lightning."

Serah placed her hand on her sister's forehead and gasped. "Claire, you're burning up."

"Will you stop calling me that?" Lightning grumbled.

"You need to rest," Serah insisted. "I'll get you some warm soup and then you have to go to bed."

"I'm not sick," Lighting growled, "and I'm not going anywhere until Fang comes back."

Snow frowned. "That's sweet, Claire, but really—"

"It is _not_ sweet, and don't call me that," Lighting interrupted harshly. "I know Fang is up to something. I won't rest until I know what it is."

"Claire, I really think you have a fever." Serah touched her arm. "Whatever Fang is doing, you have to rest or you won't get better before Christmas." Looking worried by that prospect, Serah suddenly announced, "I'm making soup for you."

There was suddenly heavy knocking on the door.

Everyone went quiet, pausing to look at each other as they wondered if it could really be that easy. Would they open the door to find Fang or would it be NORA?

No one moved, so the knocking resumed.

Vanille finally walked across the door and pulled the door open. She was genuinely happy to see Fang, so it was not difficult to act as though she were surprised.

"Fang!" Vanille flung herself into Fang's arms.

"Aw, did ya miss me?" Fang wrapped her arms around Vanille and grinned down at her.

"Where were you?" Lightning interrupted. "We looked everywhere."

"Probably not since you didn't find me," Fang smirked, holding out a bottle of wine. "I spent hours looking for this stuff. It's the best wine in all of New Cocoon. They had it last time I was here, but this time I had to walk all the way to Korrin to get it."

"You walked to Korrin for wine?" Lightning raised her brow skeptically.

"Sure." Fang shrugged. "They don't make wine like this anywhere else. It tastes just like a drink my best friend's mother-in-law made back in our village. It's worth the walk."

Lightning pursed her lips, attempting to figure out how long it would take someone to walk to Korrin and back on foot. She doubted it could be accomplished in such a short period of time.

"You can't come in," Lighting suddenly resolved.

Fang looked surprised. "What's that now?"

"You heard me." Lightning crossed her arms. "You got me sick, so you can stay out there for a few more hours."

"Light, it's freezing out here," Fang protested.

"I _know_. I spent two hours looking for you," Lightning replied, her tone clipped. "Maybe you should've worn something decent."

"There's nothing wrong with my outfit," Fang protested.

Although she wore her usual sari, she had used thicker fabric than usual to keep warm and had added a hat, a scarf, gloves, and thick boots.

"If you're stuck out here, I'm staying with you," Vanille promised, hugging her more tightly.

"Oh no, you don't." Fang patted the top of her head. "You'll catch cold. Go back inside."

Serah suddenly appeared from the kitchen with a bowl of steaming soup. When she noticed Fang and Vanille, she cried happily, "Oh, Fang, I'm so glad you're okay. We were worried about you. What are you doing out in the cold? Come inside."

"I'd love to." Fang did not release Vanille as she guided her gently through the doorway and kicked the door shut behind her.

Lightning glared but remained silent as she sat down to eat her soup.

"We looked for you for almost two hours. I'm glad you're all right."

"You looked all that time?" Fang feigned surprise and squeezed Vanille extra tight before releasing the girl and nudging her out of the way with a faint smile. "Where can I put our stuff?"

"The attic. Just go up until there are no more stairs. That is the only room on the floor."

"Don't let her go alone," Lightning protested. "She'll rig the entire house with traps."

"Innocent ol' me?" Fang pouted. "After all we went through, Light, you could try trusting me."

"I'm sure it'll be okay, Claire," Serah assured her gently. "We're all friends."

"Yeah, Claire, it'll be completely fine," Fang parroted, grinning widely.

"Serah gets to call me that," Lightning replied fiercely. "Not you."

"So, the room's at the top of the stairs?" Fang confirmed with Serah.

"Yep. Come back when you're done and we'll play more games."

"Aye, aye, captain." Fang grinned over her shoulder at Vanille, nodding her head subtly.

The younger Gran Pulsian did not need further prompting as she skipped up the stairs behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Author's Note: Here is the second installment of Christmas With Fang! I hope you like it!

WARNING: This story still contains some minor mature themes, minor spoilers for the FFXIII game, and lesbians. Continue at your own risk.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for original characters. It's very sad.

Serah awoke early the next morning and crept down the hallway as silently as she could so that she would not wake up her sister. When she was standing in front of Lightning's bedroom door, she pushed it open as slowly as possible, fearing that her sister would awaken, and then stuck her head inside the room. After waiting a moment to make sure that the ex-soldier would not stir, Serah finally sneaked across the room and stood beside Lightning's bed with a worried frown on her face, because Lightning's cheeks were still rosy and she was breathing through her mouth.

Determined to help her sister feel better before the holidays, Serah backed out of the room and practically skipped down the stairs. There was little she could do other than dote on her sister all day, and she thought she would start by leaving a nice glass of water at her bedside for when she woke up.

As she walked through the kitchen, Serah noticed a pot of hot water boiling on the stove. She was a little surprised that someone else would be awake before herself, but she thought nothing of it as she continued on her mission to help her sister feel better. Walking to the cabinet, Serah indiscriminately pulled a class out and moved toward the sink. However, when she heard footsteps behind her she spun around with surprise and promptly dropped the glass on the floor. It shattered into a hundred shards, but Serah was able to jump out of the way before any of the sharp pieces stabbed her.

Fang surveyed the glass on the floor with a frown. "You all right?"

Serah nodded, placing her hand on her chest as though to still her beating hear. "You scared me, Fang!"

"Didn't see the water boiling?" Fang cocked her brow teasingly and grinned. "I'll help you clean that up if you want. I've got nothing else to do but watch this pot boil."

Serah giggled. "That sounds nice. Thank you."

Although Serah had watched the journey the others had taken from afar, it had taken up so much of her energy to observe them while in crystal stasis that she had only been able to observe key events. There was much of the journey, including countless nights camping in the woods on Gran Pulse, that she had not actually witnessed. For that reason, Serah did not know very much about Fang other than what Lightning had told her, which entailed that Fang was a troublemaker than bored but otherwise strong, loyal, and completely devoted to Vanille. Serah had spent very little time with Fang, but she thought that the other woman seemed very kind and genuine.

"Do you have a broom somewhere?" Fang asked as she took a towel off of the counter, crouched down before the sink, and began scooping up the glass.

"Oh, I can take care of that." Serah waved her hand dismissively.

Fang remained crouched on the ground as she watched Serah tug a broom and dustpan out of the closet. Then the younger girl joined her on the floor, crouching to sweep up the glass as she hummed a pleasant tune to herself.

Fang watched her tug a broom and dustpan out of the closet and crouch down to sweep up the glass, humming pleasantly to herself. Realizing that she was not really nodded, Fang stood up and turned back to the stove, murmuring, "Make sure you get it all. Otherwise someone'll get cut."

"I'll be very careful," Serah assured her with a faint smile before gathering the shards carefully into the dustpan and pouring them into the trash.

Fang nodded as she waited for the water to finish and then began pouring it into a mug.

"What are you making?" Serah asked conversationally as she stood up to fetch another glass from the cupboard.

"Poor Vanille caught a cold looking for me last night," Fang replied, looking regretful. "I wish I'd thought to tell her where I was going, but I got the idea to get the wine halfway through the evening and I didn't know it'd take me so long—"

"What would make you try to talk so far?" Serah interrupted curiously. "It was so cold last night. You could have gotten sick."

"We walked everywhere in Oerba," Fang replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm making Vanille some tea to help her feel better."

"That's sweet." Serah smiled warmly, her eyes lightning up. "Claire is sick, too. Do you think you could make some for her as well?"

"Sure. Why not?" Fang shrugged, her lips turning upwards ever so slightly. "Might as well use the water, right? I'll make her a special Gran Pulsian blend that really clears up the sinuses."

"Thanks. That would be wonderful," Serah exclaimed cheerfully. "In the meantime, I'll bring her some water. I think I just heard her upstairs."

"That was probably Vanille. She was just getting in the shower when I came down." Fang poured a second mug of water for Lighting.

"I'll go check on Claire then. If she isn't awake, I'll just leave the water for her."

Fang nodded absently as she began digging through the spice cabinet.

Humming to herself again, Serah held the glass underneath the faucet and turned on the sick. A cry of distress suddenly flew from her lips as the sink seemed to explode, spraying water all over her. By the time that she had managed to turn off the water less than a minute later, her white shirt was completely soaked through.

Instinctively, Serah turned around as she caught her breath.

Fang whistled, noticing Serah's rather risqué black bra peaking through her shirt, teasing, "Getting lucky tonight? Or this morning? I bet Snow's excited."

"W-What?" Serah blushed darkly. "Snow and I—we're waiting until we're married."

"Oh." Fang smirked faintly. "Then I guess Snow's _not_ excited."

Serah ignored Fang's statement, since she knew that society expected men to be very sexual even though her Snow was not that way, and mumbled, "Something is wrong with the sink."

"I can see that." Fang furrowed her brows curiously. "It's weird. It was fine when I used it earlier."

"Really?" Serah's eyes widened nervously. "Maybe I pressed the spray button by accident."

"It's possible," Fang conceded distractedly.

Serah tried the faucet another time, but the result was the same; the water sprayed her for the second time. By her third try with the sink, she was dripping wet and no longer interested in bringing her sister something to drink. Rather, she knew that she had to fix the sink before her sister awoke or Lightning would be furious with her. However, leaning over the sink and studying it curiously did not help her understand what she had done or how she could fix it, and eventually she gave up knowing that she had no idea what she was evening looking for.

"Fang, do you think you could look at this?" Serah pouted desperately. "Claire will be so angry if she thinks that I broke something. She just fixed up the entire house."

"I can try, but I dunno how much I can help..." Fang crossed the room, moved out of the reach of the water spray, and then turned the faucet handle. When water seemed to soar across the room, she turned off the sink and shrugged. "It looks to me like the sprayer's stuck on, but I dunno how to work this thing. We didn't have sinks in Oerba."

"Right..." Serah sighed wearily. "Well, thanks for looking anyway."

"I'll bring the tea up to Light if you want," Fang suggested with a faint smile. "Then you can focus on this."

"Thanks." Serah leaned against the counter and groaned. "Maybe Snow can fix it."

"Now, there's an idea," Fang replied encouragingly. "Snow seems like he'd know about that kind of stuff."

Serah nodded in agreement, a hopeful grin crossing her features. "I'll go get him."

"Good idea."

Fang watched Serah go before turning back to the tea with a low chuckle. Once she was certain that Serah was far away, she finished putting together the blend of chamomile, organic honey, and pinches of three different Gran Pulsian spices with healing properties to jumpstart the immune system. Then she added a finishing touch. The tea in each cup was identical save for one little detail: Lightning's cup had just a bit of cayenne pepper juice.

As soon as she was finished, Fang picked up both of the cups and made her journey up the stairs. She paused in front of Lightning's room before nudging the door silently open with her elbow and then sneaking inside. Taking precautions not to wake Lightning, since she knew that the ex-soldier would not blindly accept food or drink from her, she crossed the room and placed the mug on the dresser. Then she crept out of the room, closing it gently behind her.

Lightning would certainly not drink the tea without suspicion if she knew that Fang had left it there, but the dark-haired Gran Pulsian suspected that she would think her sister had left it for her. No harm would be done, but she would certainly need a drink of water.

After leaving Lightning's room, Fang climbed up the stairs to the attic just in time to see Vanille slipping back into her pajamas and crawling beneath the covers, her wet hair hanging over her shoulders.

The dark-haired Gran Pulsian smiled warmly as she looked at Vanille, who in spite of being sick was still absolutely gorgeous. "Hey, you. How're you feeling?"

As Fang crossed the room to sit on the side of the bed, Vanille groaned, "I feel terrible. Faaang, you got me sick!"

"Sorry." Fang brushed Vanille's bangs tenderly out of her face before leaning forwards and pressing her lips to her forehead. "Seems like your fever's gone."

With a weak smile, Vanille glanced at the cup of tea. "Is that for me?"

"Yep. It should make your throat feel better." Fang almost handed her the cup but thought better of it. "Lemme just taste it first to make sure it's all right."

Vanille raised her brow curiously, but she did not question Fang as she lifted the mug to her own lips and took a small sip.

"Delicious," Fang handed her the mug cheerfully. "Here you go."

"Did you think it would taste bad?" Vanille raised her brow.

Fang shrugged noncommittally, a faint grin crossing her lips. "You never know what's gonna happen when I make something."

"We always cook together, Fang," Vanille protested encouragingly. "You're really good."

Fang laughed at that. "Drink your tea before it gets cold."

Vanille nodded, weakly lifting the cup to her lips and sighing with relief when the first sip soothed her throat. With the cup still in hand, Vanille leaned back against the pillow.

"Feel better, okay?" Fang brushed her hair out of her face again, touching her cheek.

Vanille nodded, taking another sip of her drink. Her voice was raspy as she murmured, "I'm gonna rest all day. Okay?"

"Good idea." Fang leaned forwards and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back later."

"Are you still gonna play pranks?" Vanille frowned disapprovingly. "I'm already sick."

"I said I was sorry," Fang insisted with a pout.

"It's okay." Vanille lowered her eyes. "I just think that maybe—"

"Anyway, since you're sick, no one'll think you're involved," Fang interrupted with a wink before standing up. On her way out the door, she mumbled, "See you later."

Vanille could do nothing but helplessly watch her go and hope that Fang would not get them kicked out of Lightning's house before Christmas. However, she knew that her hope was in vain when she suddenly heard a thud and Lightning shouting with surprise. Since Vanille could only assume that whatever had happened had something to do with Fang, she immediately drank the rest of her tea, set the empty mug on the dresser, and buried herself in the covers. Either she would fall asleep, or she would pretend to fall asleep, because she was not going to involve herself.

xxx

Hope covered his mouth to stifle a yawn as he wandered into the kitchen. He did not know what had woken him up so early in the morning, but Lightning's house was much drier than his father's so he had been too thirsty to go back to bed. He searched through the cupboard until he found a plastic cup, since he was clumsy and did not want to break anything, before he held his cup under the faucet and turned on the sink.

The silver-haired boy immediately grunted in surprise when the sink sprayed him in the face and soaked through his shirt. Hope was so exhausted that when he reached out and tried to turn off the water flow, he accidentally turned on the hot water instead, causing practically boiling water to spray on his face. Howling in pain, Hope ducked out of the spray, and his foot slid out from under him, causing him to slip in the puddle forming beneath the sink. Then, with a gasp of surprise, he fell backwards and bashed his head into the counter before spending a few dizzied moments trying to get up.

The faucet continued to spray unchecked, causing the entire floor to become wet.

"Do you think you'll be able to fix it?" Serah's voice suddenly drifted in from the hallway.

"Of course!" Snow replied enthusiastically. "It's probably just the pipes."

Serah appeared in the doorway and covered her mouth in horror before she spotted Hope on the floor. "Oh, Hope, are you all right?"

The younger of the two Farron sisters immediately raced across the room and fell dramatically at Hope's side, helping him edge away from the counter and checked the back of his head. Hope blushed, because while Serah examined his injuries, she accidentally pushed his face right into her bosom. Her shirt was still soaked from earlier, so he could clearly see her bra and the well-developed breasts that she generally concealed. They were so beautiful and—

"Hope, are you all right?" Serah repeated as she released him, accidentally causing him to fall back and hit his head again.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Serah ruffled his hair. "You're okay, right?"

Hope nodded, still looking flushed. "What's wrong with the sink?"

"That's what I'm here to find out." Snow ventured across the room, turning off the sink and examining it. "I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the pipes."

In truth, Snow knew nothing about fixing sinks or pipes, but he thought that only a leak could cause the sink to spray everyone. He was also determined to show his wife-to-be that he could take care of their home, so he immediately pulled a wrench out of his tool belt, ducked beneath the sink, and began tinkering around.

Lightning's shout of surprise suddenly rang through the house, causing Serah to jump. Meanwhile, Hope slammed his head into the counter for a third time and Snow banged his head on the underside of the sink.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs as Lightning ran into the kitchen in search of a cool drink, but she had not realized that the kitchen might be flooded. With yet another cry of surprise, Lightning slipped in a giant puddle of water and landed flat on her back with a thud. Then she lay there silently.

Everyone watched Lightning for movement, nervous looks on their faces.

"C-Claire?" Serah bit her lip. "Are you okay?"

Lightning's throat burned so badly that she could not even reply as she dragged herself off of the ground and threw the fridge door open violently. She tore a carton of milk out of the fridge and downed half of it in several gulps, pausing only to breathe.

As she wiped her mouth, Lightning snapped furiously, "What the hell did you do to my kitchen, Snow?!"

"It wasn't his fault," Serah insisted. "I broke the sink this morning. Fang said it was fine when she was making the tea—"

"_Fang?!_" Lightning was so angry that she threw the milk carton on the floor, forgetting that it was still half full and adding to the mess.

"Yeah?" Fang suddenly appeared in the doorway with an amused look on her face. "Well, I'd say good morning, but I'm afraid you'll hit me. What happened in here?"

"Damn right, I'll hit you!" Lighting shouted.

Fang ducked out of the way before Lighting could reach her. "Good morning to you, too."

"What the hell did you put in my tea?" Lightning cried angrily.

"You put something in her tea?" Serah gasped, betrayed.

"Just a bit of pepper." Fang rolled her eyes. "I thought it'd clear out your sinuses, but I didn't know you couldn't handle the spice. We heard you screaming all the way upstairs."

"You poisoned me!" Lightning growled.

"Oh, come on." Fang placed her hands on her hips. "I gave Vanille the same thing and she's upstairs sleeping like a baby. That's how we drink tea in Oerba. I didn't think to ask Serah how you Cocoon people make it."

Lightning pursed her lips, glaring skeptically at her. "Well, whatever you did to my sink, it better be fixed before I drink the second milk carton or you're dead."

"Why's everything my fault?" Fang protested with a pout. "The sink worked fine for me. I had nothing to do with it."

"Besides, I can fix the sink," Snow assured everyone, turning one of the screws. Suddenly a geyser erupted from the pipes and poured down on him. "Wah! Don't panic. I meant to do that!"

Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Better call in a professional," Fang whispered, smirking. "Snow'll drown before he fixes that thing."

Lightning attempted not to smile, but the corners of her lips curled.

Grinning, Fang teased, "Now there's a pretty smile."

With a cold glare, Lightning threw a punch and hit her mark, successfully striking Fang in the jaw.

"Last time I try to introduce you to our culture," Fang grumbled, holding her cheek. Since she probably deserved the hit, she decided not to retaliate.

It took another two glasses of milk to soothe Lightning's throat, and the first thing that she did once she was relaxed was call a plumber. Unfortunately, the man told her sympathetically that due to the holiday season, the earliest that he could come to her house was in three to four days, and that was only if someone canceled. Lightning had been so annoyed that she had irritably told him that they did not need him anyway before slamming the phone shut. Then she grumbled to herself as she walked up the stairs and shut her bedroom door behind her.

"Maybe we should try to clean up a bit," Serah murmured quietly.

"My head actually really hurts, so..." Hope trailed off before scurrying out of the room.

"I'm sorry Claire punched you," Serah told Fang gently as she reached for a mop. "I think she's upset because she feels so sick."

"Really?" Fang tilted her head curiously. "I thought maybe it was another reason."

"What do you mean?" Serah paused to look at her.

"Well, it makes perfect sense," Fang took another mop from the closet and began to help her. "You know, she's all alone."

"What?" Serah gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I bet Light doesn't even realize it, but it's gotta be hard living with your little sister and her fiancée," Fang pointed out. "Don't you think she wants a partner?"

Serah frowned thoughtfully. "I never thought about it before."

"No?" Fang raised a brow. "Has your sister ever dated?"

"I think maybe, but she never would have told me anything like that," Serah replied quietly. "She didn't want anyone else to be a part of our life."

"Well, now there's someone else in your life, which means that half the time she's all alone," Fang replied knowingly. "I bet she wants someone, too. Once you two get hitched and go, she'll be completely alone."

"Then we'll never leave!" Serah cried dramatically. "Snow and I will live here."

Fang nearly laughed but managed to control herself. "Light'll be even more jealous of a happy family living under her own roof, don't you think?"

Serah's shoulders fell. "But then, what can I do?"

"Well, she obviously needs someone, a partner, don't you think?"

Serah nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. She needs someone to keep her company when I'm gone."

Fang nodded in agreement. "It's too bad she'll never find anyone."

"Why not?" Serah narrowed her eyes. "Claire can be loveable."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, but just look at her. She's so cold. She never lets anyone in. I bet when you were younger, she really never dated much because she didn't wanna trust anyone."

"That does sound like Claire..." Serah pouted. "I have to do something about this. I have to help her!"

Snow slid out from under the sink with a frown. "Serah, I know you care about your sister, but don't you think we should leave her alone? I don't think she wants relationship help."

"B-But Snow, I can't let her end up alone!" Serah cried. "Don't you think it would be okay for me to set her up with someone?"

He shrugged, his shoulders sagging. "I'm off to get some more tools. Do whatever you think is right, but remember that Light will probably be mad."

"Maybe he's right," Serah looked defeated.

"'Course he's not right," Fang balked, leaning forwards. "He's a boy, and boys are stupid."

Serah frowned faintly. "What do _you_ know about boys?"

Fang arched her brow playfully. "What're you implying there, Serah?"

With a dark blush, Serah shook her head, stuttering, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Well, it's just something that Claire said once and I..."

"And what did _Claire_ say?" Fang's smirk seemed to widen.

"N-Nothing. Just forget I said anything. I really didn't meant to...well..."

Fang laughed dismissively. "Anyway, we've gotta do something about your sister, but she'll be mad if it comes from me, so you've gotta set her up with as many people as possible until she finds the right one and pretend it was all your idea if she asks."

Serah pouted. "What if she's mad at me?"

"Even if she acts mad, she'll be happy on the inside, won't she?"

"I-I suppose. Who doesn't want love?" Serah frowned faintly. "I do have one person in mind. He is one of Snow's friends from NORA..."

"That's sounds perfect," Fang replied encouragingly. "Anyway, I better go up and check on Vanille again. Good luck setting Lightning up."

Serah nodded, looking troubled, and wondered if she should set them up after Christmas. Right near the holidays seemed a little too soon. "I can't help but feel that Claire will be really mad at me."

_Probably,_ Fang thought with a roguish smirk.

Honestly though, Fang thought it might be a good thing. Even though she really just wanted to keep Serah distracted and thinking that she had everyone's good in mind, it would probably be nice for Lightning to find someone.

xxx

Since both Vanille and Lightning had become sick, Serah had become convinced that the entire house would be ill by Christmas if they did not exercise every precaution. For that reason, she made everyone take several dietary supplements during dinner that night. She also decreed that everyone was going to bed by ten o'clock, which garnered much protest even though everyone eventually complied.

Fang was a little bit annoyed when Serah practically forced everyone to go to bed, but then she realized that that would give her more time to set up her pranks and felt rather grateful instead.

After lying in bed for quite some time listening to the silence of the house and Vanille's soft breathing, Fang crept out of bed and placed her footsteps carefully. She slipped quickly and silently down the attic stairs and snuck into the nearest bathroom. Everyone would be on their guard if she was not careful, and she wanted the pranks to be as surprising as possible, so she had no choice but to play very special pranks that she had already spent quite some time working out. Hope, Snow, and Serah were not going to be pleased at all when they woke up the next morning, but if she could help it, none of them would know that she had been responsible.

Fang shut the door behind her and set a flashlight on the counter before tugging the medicine cabinet open and removing a brand new tube of toothpaste. Tearing off the plastic seal and putting it in her pocket to later dispose of the evidence, Fang unscrewed the cover, setting it on the counter, and tugged a thin container of food coloring out of her sari. Fang squeezed a generous amount of food coloring into the container. Then she squeezed the toothpaste around for a while to mix it in. When she was finished, she smoothed the tube so that it would not appear to have been tampered with and glued the cap back on so that it would seem unopened.

Smirking to herself, Fang mused that she would have to wake up early in the morning so that she could see Snow and Serah's colored teeth. As soon as the two of them discovered their fate, they would brush their teeth with someone else's toothpaste and the coloring would wash right out. In fact, even their saliva might be enough to wash it out, but if they did not notice, it would be hilarious to watch them walk around all morning.

Fang was two steps away from the door so that she could begin her next prank when she realized that the toothpaste they were currently using was not yet finished. That was unacceptable, since she did not want to wait an entire week for the prank to take place, so she squeezed the rest of the toothpaste into the trashcan and covered it with tissues before leaving the empty tube on the counter.

Determined to prank everyone in the house at least once and betting on the fact that Serah might notice the color of her own teeth and stop the Snow from making the same mistake, Fang climbed into the shower and quickly mixed a low dosage of a very itchy herb into Snow's shampoo.

Fang's foot was poised on the edge of the tub as she prepared to climb out when suddenly she heard footsteps in the hallway. Her heart began to beat more quickly as she closed the curtains and crouched down. As her warrior instinct took over, she immediately calmed down, waiting to either be captured or escape. No one would shower in the middle of the night, so as long as she was quiet, they might not notice her.

Just as the door opened, Fang realized that she had left her flashlight on the counter and mentally cursed.

Heavy footsteps announced Snow's presence as he pushed the door open and walked into the room. When he did not even turn on the light, Fang realized that he must not have noticed the flashlight and sighed because she did not really want to listen to him pee.

"I can't take much more of this," Snow grumbled as he paced around the room. "She just doesn't get it. I'm trying to be supportive, but it's _hard_ to be a guy! I can't just turn it off like she can."

_Oh, bugger_. Fang rolled her eyes and wondered if she was being preemptively punished for her pranks. As usual, she should have listened to Vanille.

"I can't help it," Snow whined. "Why doesn't she get that?"

Fang prepared to plug her ears, but she was surprised when Snow suddenly turned on the faucet and splashed himself in the face.

"Snap out of it, Snow. You've gotta stay strong!" He sighed wearily, grumbling, "Ugh, I better flush the toilet or she'll want to know what I was doing in here."

Fang waited until she heard the door close and gave a sigh of relief, because she had thought that Snow was going to do something she _really_ did not listen to. As she gathered her flashlight and began to creep out of the room, she muttered to herself, "Poor guy."

After lingering in the hallway for a while to make sure that no one else was awake or could hear her, Fang climbed down the stairs and snuck into the basement, closing all of the doors behind her in case anyone woke up for a drink. Then she crouched down beside Hope's sleeping form. She smirked faintly as she placed a cup of water next to the couch and dipped his fingers into it, though the prank did not seem like such a good idea as she realized that she would have to wait for it to take effect and move the cup in order to keep from being discovered.

When she was finished, Fang returned to the attic hoping that Lightning had slept peacefully all night. Though she had not intended for the other woman to become sick while looking for her, it had worked to her advantage, because the ex-soldier was the only person who would immediately assume Fang had been involved.

Fang slipped quietly into bed so as not to disturb her companion, and she paused for a moment, a faint smile growing on her features as Vanille's sleeping form seemed to grope for her. With a light chuckle, Fang pulled Vanille into her arms, and the younger girl seemed to curl against her in her sleep.

"You're adorable even when you're sleeping, you know that?" Fang whispered with a grin as she brushed Vanille's hair delicately behind her ear and kissed the top of her head.

Vanille cooed in her sleep, and Fang had never felt more peaceful until Vanille kneed her in the side—hard.

Fang winced but did not think much of it. She had grown used to the way that Vanille kicked in her sleep over the years. Snuggling against her companion, Fang smiled to herself and mused that tomorrow morning was going to be very fun.

xxx

In the brightest hours of the morning, a shrill scream pierced the air. "What is _wrong_ with this toothpaste?"

Fang, who awoke to the noise, smiled triumphantly and stretched her back, deciding that she had maybe twenty minutes to find Serah and see her colored teeth before the girl realized that rinsing vigorously would be enough to wash away the evidence of the prank.

Vanille curled against Fang, hugging her more tightly around the waist and sighing into her ear, "Did you play a prank on Serah? She's so nice."

"I have to play at least one prank on everyone," Fang replied, poking her in the side. "It's only fair."

With a squeal, Vanille squirmed away from her, turning to face the other direction. "It's too early to tickle me."

"It's never too early to tickle someone," Fang replied teasingly as she turned to face her and wrapped her arms around her from behind. "Today's gonna be such a fun day. It's too bad you're sick."

Vanille pouted. "How fun?"

"Now, what's that look for?" Fang frowned sadly. "It doesn't have to be a bad kind of fun."

"Fang, you always play pranks," Vanille sighed. "We won't have any friends."

"Everyone in Oerba loved my pranks," Fang protested. "Look at Konnor. He stuck around, didn't he?"

Vanille smiled faintly. "I dunno why. You were always poisoning him."

"He never died, did he?" Fang shrugged, laughing as she snuggled against Vanille. "Besides, I'll only poisoned him once and it was an accident."

"So, why's today gonna be so interesting?" Vanille inquired sleepily as she shifted, turning toward her again and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Well, I played some tricks on Snow, Serah and Hope," Fang replied as she absently ran her fingers through Vanille's hair. "I think Light'll suspect pretty quick, but I'm trying to see how far I can go while still convincing the others that it's not me."

"Mm." Vanille nodded sleepily, sighing into Fang's neck.

"You're not gonna lecture me?" Fang teased, twirling wavy locks of hair between her fingers.

"I'm too sleepy, and it's too early."

"Well, I've got to get up if I wanna see any of my pranks," Fang pointed out as she began to shift. "Are you gonna spend the day in bed again?"

Vanille made a noise of acknowledgement and did not disengage herself from Fang even though she knew that the other woman wanted to leave. She promptly began to fall asleep again, nestled in Fang's arms.

The dark-haired woman smiled warmly, realizing that she did not actually care as much about the pranks as the gorgeous woman wrapped in her arms. She could always play more pranks, so it was fine to spend another hour or so in paradise.

xxx

"Please don't tell anyone," Hope begged Sazh as the two of them cleaned the couch cushions.

"I just don't understand it. How does a boy your age...?" Sazh sighed and glanced up at him, a frown covering his features. "What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't know. I don't remember." Hope looked devastated. "I've never wet the bed in my entire life. This is so weird!"

Sazh frowned, concerned. "Did you have a nightmare or...?"

"I really don't remember." Hope hung his head in embarrassment, his cheeks flushed. "Please, just promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Yeah, sure." Sazh sighed wearily. "I won't tell anyone."

Dajh, who was watching the two of them from the staircase and giggling to himself, immediately snuck upstairs into the living room.

When he reached the sitting room and found that it was empty, Dajh frowned and walked up the stairs toward the voices he heard. Serah was standing in her sister's bathroom frantically brushing strange colors out of her teeth. When she noticed Dajh, she smiled at him before flushing with embarrassment when he giggled.

"Dajh, can you please go wait downstairs? If you want breakfast, I can make some soon," Serah requested gently.

"Okay." Dajh pouted before walking back down the stairs. He felt sullen because he could not share his secret, so he sat down on the couch with a sigh.

Soon Serah came down the stairs, looking relieved that her teeth had been restored to their natural state. When she noticed Dajh, she sat down beside him and asked him what kind of breakfast he would like. He was about to tell her the secret when Snow suddenly came around the corner, itching his scalp rather violently.

"Serah, the new shampoo we bought is terrible," Snow grumbled, scratching at his neck. "I think I'm allergic."

"There was something wrong with the toothpaste, too." Serah furrowed her brows. "I wonder if I should start shopping in a different market."

"Why?" Lightning asked as she came down the stairs.

"Oh, the toothpaste turned my teeth green, but it washed right out with a different tube," Serah explained with a shrug.

"And my scalp itches like crazy," Snow exclaimed with a frustrated look. "Do you have some shampoo I can borrow? Maybe this will wash out like Serah's toothpaste."

"Both your toothpaste and your shampoo?" Lightning pursed her lips angrily. "First the sink, now all of your stuff. I'm going to _kill_ Fang!"

"Claire!" Serah gasped, nodding her head toward Dajh.

"Oh." Lightning looked at him and motioned him over. "Dajh?"

"Yeah?" He tilted his head curiously.

"Don't ever play pranks on anyone or they might kill you like I'm going to kill Fang," Lightning informed him with a serious look.

Dajh nodded, looking frightened, and Serah glared at her sister. "We don't know that it was Fang. It could just be faulty products. The lotion I bought at that same market stand made me itchy. I guess I won't shop there anymore."

"No, it was definitely Fang," Lightning assured her.

"I don't think so." Serah narrowed her eyes. "Fang has been nothing but kind since she came here. I know you think she broke the sink, but she helped me mop up the entire mess, including the milk you spilled. Why would she bother if she had done it?"

"Maybe she has a conscience," Lightning suggested with a roll of her eyes.

"Besides, we all went to bed early last night, including Fang," Snow added.

"I know a secret," Dajh interrupted impatiently, since he had been waiting quite a long time.

"Do you know who broke the sink?" Lightning demanded, sitting up in her seat. "Was it Fang? I'll kick her a—"

"Claire, _please,_" Serah interrupted.

"Fine. I'll kick her _butt_. Hard."

"Uh uh. It's a different secret." Dajh grinned slyly, lowering his voice. "Wanna know?"

A troubled look grew on Serah's features. "What is it?"

Dajh leaned forwards and blurted in a sing-song voice, "Hope had an accident in the basement."

"_What?!_" Lightning practically dove out of her seat. "Tell me that you mean he got hurt."

"Uh uh." Dajh shook his head, giggling. "An _accident_. Hope wet the couch! Hope wet the couch!"

"Shh! Dajh, stop singing that. It's not very nice," Serah scolded quietly.

"I _just_ bought those couches," Lightning complained angrily.

"At least it was in the basement," Serah replied gently.

"Isn't Hope fourteen?" Lightning grumbled. "How did this even happen?"

"It smells really bad downstairs, but daddy's helping Hope clean it up." Dajh tilted his head to the side. "I never wet the bed once."

"I hope he's okay," Snow mumbled, glancing at the basement door.

"Can I have some breakfast now?" Dajh asked suddenly.

"Well, let's wait a little while," Serah exclaimed with a frown. "I want to make sure Hope's okay once your dad comes upstairs."

Lightning grunted and leaned back in her seat, pleased that she did not have to clean up the mess but still upset that Hope had had his accident.

Footsteps suddenly sounded against the basement stairs and everyone froze, glancing awkwardly at the door just as Hope and Sazh came through. Lightning pursed her lips as she attempted to keep her words held inside, and she noticed that Serah's smile was embarrassed and Snow looked both uncomfortable and amused.

Hope realized from the looks on everyone's faces that Dajh had ratted him out and he hung his shoulders in shame. "I..."

"It's okay, Hope," Serah interrupted gently. "Don't worry about a thing."

"I'm taking a shower," Sazh announced suddenly. "I just wanted to let everyone know that it's all cleaned up downstairs."

"You better shower, too, Hope." Lightning crossed her arms. "Use Snow and Serah's bathroom."

Hope nodded, unable to meet eyes with anyone. "I just—will everyone promise not to tell Vanille? I don't want her to know about this."

"Fang's the one you have to worry about," Lightning grunted dismissively. "Vanille would keep it a secret, but Fang will tell everyone in the world."

"Please just don't tell Vanille."

Three faces stared blankly at him and Dajh looked confused by everyone's reaction. Blushing, Hope stammered, "I-I just don't want her to think I'm a little kid. I kind of have a...crush on her."

Serah lowered her eyes, Snow shifted uncomfortably, and Lightning stared at him like he was insane.

"What?" Hope demanded, angered because he took their silence as disapproval.

"Vanille, she's—well, not available." Lightning frowned.

"What do you mean? She has a boyfriend?" Hope raised his brows in surprise. "Did she meet someone in their village? I thought all the people were gone."

Snow stood up and put his hand on Hope's shoulder, smiling sympathetically. "I think what Light is trying to say here, Hope, is that Vanille is...ah, how do you put this? She's..."

"She's with Fang," Lightning exclaimed bluntly, "plain and simple."

"What?" Hope gasped in disbelief. "No, she's not. They're just close. They've never acted like that."

"They never _stopped_ acting like that," Lightning argued, narrowing her eyes. "You're young, but you're not stupid, Hope. We all saw it."

"I didn't see anything like that," Hope looked to Snow for backup, but the blonde pretended to find something very interesting on the ceiling. "You're all crazy."

"M-Maybe you're wrong, Claire," Serah interrupted, smiling reassuringly at Hope. "I wasn't there with you, but I said something to Fang by accident the other day and she didn't confirm anything."

Snow raised his brows in surprise. "Did she deny it?"

"She couldn't." Lighting snorted.

"I think she thought it was funny, actually," Serah explained.

"So what if Fang's like that? It doesn't mean that Vanille is, too." Hope glared stubbornly. "Besides, wouldn't they have gotten in trouble or something? I mean, they lived in a village in the wilderness. Wasn't that considered wrong in older civilizations?"

"We have no way of knowing what Oerba was like," Lightning argued with a sigh. "Besides, Fang told me that she didn't care about anything but saving Vanille. She said she would tear down the sky if she had to. That kind of dedication is more than friendship."

"But you would've torn down the sky to save me, wouldn't you?" Serah inquired hastily. "You love me enough as my sister to do that for me."

"Yeah, I bet they're like sisters!" Hope grinned widely. "Thanks, Serah. You're really smart."

"They're _not_ like sisters," Lightning insisted. "I spent a lot more time with Fang than any of you."

"Snow, what do you think?" Serah asked suddenly.

"What?" Snow blinked and shook his head as though he had been lost in thought. Awkwardly, he exclaimed, "I'm sorry. I stopped listening 'cause I'm _so_ hungry. Does anyone want breakfast?"

"Me!" Dajh cried triumphantly.

"I'll go get that started." Snow tried to stand up.

"Snow, what do you think?" Serah repeated firmly.

He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, but I'm with Light."

Serah pursed her lips.

"But I guess we could be wrong," he conceded. "Fang never said anything."

"I'll prove that they're not together," Hope interrupted suddenly. "Just wait and see!"

The fourteen year old then stomped up the stairs to take his shower.

"Why did you encourage him that way?" Lightning demanded, glaring at her sister.

"What if you're wrong?" Serah asked meekly. "There's no reason to crush his hopes unless we know for sure."

"I _do_ know for sure," Lightning grumbled irritably.

"Did Fang say something to you?"

"She didn't have to. Besides, Vanille's too old for Hope. He should date girls his own age."

"I thought she was only a few years older," Serah provided.

"She's nineteen," Lightning explained. "Even if she was available, she wouldn't be interested."

"I had no idea how old she was." Serah frowned faintly. "I thought she was younger than me."

"Vanille can be really mature when she wants to be." Snow sighed. "I guess I didn't think about the age difference."

Lighting glared at him.

"Not that she's available anyway," Snow added nervously.

"Wait, you _do_ think they're together?" Serah demanded.

Snow's eyes widened. "Well, I—"

"Why did you let me encourage him like that?" Serah cried miserably. "His heart will break!"

"You gave me a look," Snow argued, furrowing his brows. "I thought you wanted me to side with you."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Well, now he thinks he has a chance, and there's no telling what Fang might do if she catches wind of this."

"Do you think she'll hurt him?" Serah gasped.

"No." Lightning's lips tightened. "But the pranks might never end."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Author's Note: Here is the third installment of Christmas With Fang. Things get a little dramatic in this chapter. After writing it, I feel kind of bad for Hope. I'll have to be a nicer author in the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFXIII or any of its characters. I do own the plot and any original characters mentioned. This chapter includes very minor implications of adult themes.

The next morning came quickly, and as the sunlight peeked through the windows, Fang woke up, dressed and immediately moved down the stairs in search of breakfast. She had barely made it to the bottom of the attic stairs when Lightning appeared out of nowhere, took her by the shoulders, and pushed her up against her nearest wall.

With a heated glare, Lightning demanded, "You were responsible for the toothpaste and the shampoo, weren't you? I'm sure you found a way to make Hope wet himself, too."

"Good morning, Light. It's nice to see you, too. I slept well, thanks. How about you?" Fang teased, smirking.

"Shut up and answer the question," Lighting snapped angrily. "Listen, that couch was _new_ and so was my sink."

Fang arched her brow. "So, did you want me to shut up or answer the question?"

"Just answer the question," the ex-soldier growled. "I want a straight answer. Have you been playing pranks on everyone?"

"No, I haven't played a single prank," Fang replied with an innocent look.

"Yeah, right!" Lightning squeezed her shoulders tightly. "You better stop while you're ahead."

"I like it when you're rough with me, _Claire_," Fang purred, winking.

"You don't get to call me that!" Lighting growled. "And don't talk to me that way. You have Vanille for whatever you two do."

"Wanna know first hand?" Fang raised her brow playfully.

Lightning narrowed her eyes as she tried to decide why Fang was able to get under her skin so easily. The other woman made her so angry by doing very little, which was unusual because in spite of the fact that she was obnoxious, Lightning did actually like Fang. She saw her as a valuable comrade and a worthy opponent, but Fang was also a bit of a nuisance, something that the others did not seem to see it.

"Don't try to avoid the subject," Lightning ordered eventually, crossing her arms. "I'll leave you alone for now, since you haven't hurt anyone, but I swear if I find out that you broke my sink I will throw you out a window."

"What's going on?" Vanille suddenly appeared at the top of the attic stairs, her brows furrowed with worry.

"Nothing." Fang beckoned the other woman down the stairs. "Everything's fine."

"Are you sure?" Vanille climbed cautiously to the bottom and paused beside Fang.

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Everything's fine for now, but if you'd like Fang to stay alive, maybe you should advise her not to mess up my house."

Vanille looked genuinely concerned, so Fang wrapped her arm around the younger girl's shoulders and tugged her toward the stairs. "Come on, Vanille. Light thinks I played some pranks, but I'm innocent."

When the two of them reached the kitchen and realized that they were alone, Vanille leaned close to Fang and whispered, "I think you should stop. You got everyone, right?"

"I didn't get Sazh. I couldn't think of anything," Fang replied with a pout. "I can't stop until I get everyone—except Dajh. He's just a little kid."

"Fang, I don't want Lightning to kill you," Vanille whined.

"She couldn't kill me," Fang assured her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "Besides, I've gotta help Light loosen up and fast. I convinced Serah to set her up with some guy from Snow's work."

"Are you sure it should be a guy?" Vanille whispered with a faint grin.

"I dunno, but I guess we'll find out." Fang smirked faintly. "She doesn't seem to like my advances very much, so I figure she _must_ like boys."

"Fang!" Vanille whined, hugging her arm. "What if she _did_ like your advances?"

Fang laughed and pulled Vanille closer to her, resting her cheek against the side of her head and murmuring close to her ear, "Vanille, there'll never be anyone but you. Stop pretending like you're worried."

Vanille smiled at that and pulled away from Fang, crossing her arms, "Good, 'cause I'd have to kill you if you cheated on me."

"Oh?" Fang raised her brows playfully. "And just how're you planning on doing that, _little_ Vanille?"

"I killed a bear once," Vanille reminded her, "all by myself."

"I do seem to remember something like that, but I've got a secret for you," Fang informed her, wrapping her arms around Vanille's waist from behind and pulling the girl against her. "I'm _much_ more formidable than any bear." Squeezing Vanille, Fang smirked and grazed her teeth gently against her neck as she added, "I bite harder, too."

Vanille giggled, squirming in her grasp. "How do you know?"

Hope suddenly walked into the kitchen, smiling because he had heard Vanille's voice, but when he saw them, his jaw fell open and his ears turned red. They couldn't be together. They just couldn't.

"Hey, Vanille," Hope called out, his voice tinged with jealousy.

Fang glanced over her shoulder, releasing Vanille, who walked around her, waving happily. "Hi, Hope. How're you?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid," Fang murmured, for she had noticed the jealousy. "I hear he had a little mishap this morning."

Hope's cheeks turned red. "I'm actually fine. I was wondering if you could help me with something, Vanille."

"Sure. What do you need?" Vanille smiled warmly.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to come shopping with me in town. I need a last minute present," Hope explained hastily. "I was gonna get someone something else, but then I found out they already had it."

"Of course, I can help." Vanille smiled before glancing at Fang. "Do you wanna come, Fang?"

"Nope. I think I'll sit this one out." Fang shut the fridge and put a pan on the stove. Glancing over her shoulder, she asked Vanille, "Are you leaving before breakfast?"

"I never do anything before breakfast," Vanille replied with a giggle.

"Funny. I remember doing a lot before breakfast back in Oerba," Fang replied teasingly.

Hope, who was practically burning with jealousy, immediately turned to leave. "I'm gonna play a video game. Come get me when you're done with breakfast and we'll go, okay, Vanille?"

"Okay." Vanille smiled at him. "I love shopping. This'll be so fun."

Hope grinned widely as he left the room, shutting the kitchen door behind him.

"He's so cute," Vanille murmured as she propped herself against her elbows and giggled.

"Yeah?" Fang smirked over her shoulder. "He's got a crush on you. And come help me cook!"

Vanille skipped to Fang's side, though instead of helping she just wrapped her arms around Fang's waist. "Hope doesn't have a crush on me. There's no reason to be jealous."

"Jealous?" Fang grinned teasingly. "What've I got to be jealous of?"

"I dunno." Vanille snuggled against her, closing her eyes. "But he doesn't have a crush on me. I'd notice something like that."

"It is kind of strange that you haven't noticed, seeing as every boy in Oerba had a crush on you," Fang replied with a smile as she cracked open a few eggs and dropped them in the pan. "Maybe you just like the attention."

"Fang, he doesn't!" Vanille giggled, squeezing her more tightly.

"Fine. You'll find out the hard way, but watch out. Soon he'll be drooling all over you thinking you like him back."

"I don't flirt like you do, so he won't think I like him back."

"Sure, he will," Fang argued as she put a lid over the eggs and turned around to embrace Vanille. As she brushed her lips against her forehead, Fang added, "I don't blame him, really. Who wouldn't fall in love with you?"

"I dunno." Vanille replied with a giggle. "I'm just so loveable."

Fang laughed, hugging her tightly.

xxx

Around seven thirty that night, just after everyone had finished dinner and settled into the family room for another night of video games and fun, Serah glanced around with a frown before whispering to Snow, "Where are Hope and Vanille? I haven't seen them all day."

Snow raised his brow, looking around the room as though his fiancée just had not seen them before he shrugged. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them since this morning."

"I wonder where they could be..." Serah murmured nervously, a little worried about Hope now that she knew that Vanille was so much older than him.

"Anyone in the mood for some wine?" Fang asked suddenly, appearing from the kitchen with the bottle that she had claimed to have bought in Korrin. "It's the best I've ever tasted."

"That sounds nice," Serah smiled faintly.

Everyone agreed, and while Sazh played against Dajh in a two-player fighting game, Fang poured everyone except for Lightning a glass of wine. Lightning, who sat grumpily on the other side of the room pretending that she was not paying attention to anyone, looked rather suspicious of the wine, so Fang was sure to smirk at her as she passed with the bottle.

"Yes!" Sazh suddenly shouted as he beat Dajh for the first time that evening. "That's how we do it!"

Snow jumped, surprised by the loud outburst, and a wave of wine splashed right out of his glass, landing on the floor.

Everyone froze, their eyes drifting toward Lightning, who looked like she might have a stroke.

"Lemme guess. New carpet?" Fang asked.

"Yes." Lightning glared at her.

"It's okay, Claire. I can definitely get that stain out," Serah assured her quickly. "Everyone just keep enjoying yourself."

Lightning watched with a frown as her sister raced up the stairs and returned with a stain-removing solution and a washcloth.

Serah was still scrubbing at the carpet when the key turned in the lock and the door opened. Everyone except for Sazh and Dajh, who was exacting revenge on his father for beating him, turned to watch curiously as a grunting Hope struggled through the door. He was carrying so many boxes that he actually could not see. Seconds later, they watched Vanille skip through the door with only one small box in her hands.

Everyone seemed to chuckle aside from Lighting, who did not think it was funny that Vanille had made him carry everything. Feeling annoyed, the ex-soldier immediately stood to help Hope.

"Hey, Light!" Hope grinned happily as he set the rest of the boxes down on the floor before grinning teasingly at Vanille. "I carried _everything_ all the way here, so you can carry your own stuff upstairs. I'm not helping."

"Thank you for carrying so much, Hope," Vanille replied with a smile. "Shopping with you was fun."

"Yeah," Hope replied dreamily. "We should do it again sometime."

"Sure!" Vanille chirped excitedly before skipping across the room to where Fang was seated on the couch and jumping into her lap.

Fang smirked, wrapping her arms around Vanille. "Aw, did you miss me or do you just want me to carry the boxes up the stairs for you?"

"Both," Vanille giggled, snuggling against her. "You'll help me, right, Fang?"

"Actually, Vanille, I was just kidding," Hope insisted hastily, not wanting to give Fang an opportunity to best him. "I'll take the boxes upstairs, but you have to come with me to show me where to put them."

"Really?" Vanille raised her brows. "You don't have to Hope. I can get Fang to do it."

Fang smiled wryly as some of the others chuckled. "What'd you get anyway?"

"It's a surprise," Vanille replied with a smile.

"Anyway, Vanille, did you want me to help?" Hope asked more loudly, his face turning slightly red.

Vanille shrugged and stood up, telling Fang she would be right back before returning to Hope's side.

Lightning rolled her eyes and glared at her sister. "You shouldn't have encouraged him."

Fang raised her brow in amusement, taking a sip of wine as she wondered what exactly Serah had encouraged him to do.

Meanwhile, Vanille picked up some of the smaller boxes and followed Hope up the stairs as he carried at least four shopping bags and two boxes, some of which were presents that he intended to give out but the majority of which belonged to Vanille. As they went, Vanille's voice drifted down the stairs as she told Hope that he was the best.

"Hope is stupid," Lightning grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Give the kid a break," Fang mumbled, smiling when people gave her surprised looks. "Vanille's pretty. I'm sure it's hard for him to say no to her."

"So, that makes it okay for her to take advantage of him?" Lightning narrowed her eyes.

"Relax." Fang rolled her eyes. "Vanille thinks he's just being nice. She can't see him drooling all over her."

Lightning huffed in disbelief. "Whatever."

"Maybe we should set him up with someone, too," Fang mumbled under her breath, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"What?" Lightning narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Fang forced a smile. "I didn't say anything, Light. Get your ears checked."

xxx

It did not take long for Hope and Vanille to return from the attic. Serah glanced nervously up at them, and Fang wondered what exactly the younger Farron sister was worried about as Vanille suddenly skipped to Fang's side.

"You were gone a long time." Fang murmured as Vanille plopped down beside her. "I thought you made all your presents."

"Who says I got presents?" Vanille replied with a faint smile.

Hope sat on the other side of Vanille, narrowing his eyes as he watched the two of them.

Fang ignored the teenager, wrapping her arm around Vanille's shoulders. "Let's go for a walk. It's snowing."

"Okay!" Vanille grinned. "I love snow! It's so beautiful and magical!"

"Yeah? It's wet and cold, too," Fang replied with a chuckle as she stood up and motioned for the other girl to follow her. Glancing over her shoulder, she informed the others, "We're going out. See you later."

"Going out where?" Lightning stood up to follow them, eyes narrowed. "Is this an excuse to play more pranks? Because I swear, I'll—"

Feigning innocent, Fang placed her hands on her hips. "I dunno why you can't trust me, Light. I thought we'd come to Christmas since I figured you all missed us, but if you don't want us here—"

"Stop trying to guilt me. You always play pranks," Lightning replied stubbornly. "And you're not leaving the house."

As a smug look came over his features, Hope looked distinctly satisfied.

"Claire, just let them go for a walk together," Serah interrupted. "It's Christmas. Fang knows better than to play pranks."

"Yeah, I know better." Fang smirked widely. "Anyway, are we free to go?"

"Fine." Lightning glared coldly. "But if you put even one toe out of line, I swear I will never let you come here again."

"_Light_en up," Fang replied, snickering at her own joke.

Lightning rolled her eyes and returned to her seat. "Just watch yourself."

Fang shrugged and turned to Vanille. "We'll need some warm clothes."

With a nod, Vanille turned to walk up the stairs toward the attic. Once they were inside of the room with the door shut, Vanille walked into the closet and began to sift through her clothes with a frown.

"I love the snow, but I hate dressing for winter. I've never had to do this before."

"Yeah, I know how much you hate covering up your skin," Fang teased.

"If you don't like it, I could start wearing a lot more," Vanille replied with a playful smile.

Fang wrapped her arms around her from behind, murmuring in her ear, "I never said that."

Vanille giggled, ready with a reply, but was interrupted by heavy knocking on the door.

"I bet it's Hope just in time to stop us from going," Fang exclaimed with a wry smile.

"If it is Hope, I'm sure he just needs help with something," Vanille insisted.

"Something that the five people downstairs just couldn't handle?" Fang smirked. "He's got a crush on you. It's obvious."

"No, he doesn't."

"Suit yourself." Fang shrugged.

Vanille stepped out of the walk-in closet and skipped across the room, immediately pulling the door open. "Hi, Hope. Do you need something?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Hope frowned nervously. "I was just wondering if you could help me with something. Um, we could be done by the time Fang is finished changing."

"Sure. What do you need?" Vanille asked with an innocent smile.

"Uh, one of my presents fell apart in the basement. I don't want anyone else to see," Hope replied awkwardly. "But I can't put it back together myself."

"Oh, so that's why you had to ask me," Vanille murmured loudly, glancing over her shoulder at Fang.

"Fancy that," Fang exclaimed with an amused smirk.

Laughing, Vanille informed Fang, "I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long. You're not even changed yet," Fang instructed as she pulled some warm clothes out of the closet.

Xxx

After Vanille returned, she finally managed to choose a warm outfit, change her clothes, and proclaim cheerfully, "I'm ready to go!"

"Good." Fang grinned, taking Vanille's hand and tugging her down the stairs and out the back door.

As they began to trudge through snow that was at least three feet deep, Vanille cried, "Fang, I didn't know you actually wanted to walk _in_ the snow."

"You should've asked," Fang teased. "Bet you don't love the snow so much now, huh?"

"My socks are getting wet." Vanille pouted. "I'll get sick again."

"But I had something fun planned." Fang wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "We've gotta walk through the snow to get to it."

Vanille crossed her arms. "Well, you'll just have to carry me then."

Fang laughed lightly. "Fine."

Crouching on the ground, Fang waited until Vanille had wrapped her arms around her neck before she wrapped her arms around her thighs and hoisted her up. When Vanille was settled, wrapping her legs around her waist and holding on tightly, Fang proceeded through the snow.

"This is much better," Vanille chirped, hugging her tightly around the neck.

"Maybe for you." Fang smirked playfully. "You must've gained a few pounds. You're heavier than usual."

"Fang!" Vanille rapped her companion lightly on the head.

Fang merely laughed.

The two of them walked through the forest for a long time, remaining mostly silent as the snow began to fall harder around them. Vanille shifted against Fang several times, always pressing to her back and sometimes resting her cheek against Fang's hair. She felt rather relaxed in spite of the cold weather, for Fang was quite warm beneath her.

"Here we are," Fang exclaimed eventually, setting Vanille down in a field of snow and pointing to what appeared to be a snow fort in the distance. "We're going in there."

"It looks cold," Vanille protested.

"Then I'll just have to keep you warm, won't I?" Fang replied with a throaty voice and a wink, wrapping her arm around her waist.

Vanille giggled. "We won't stay long, right? I really don't wanna get sick again."

"We can stay as long as you want," Fang replied with a shrug, "but I promise it'll be fun."

Vanille nodded, waiting for Fang to lead the way and then hopping carefully in Fang's footsteps so as to get as little snow inside of her boots as possible. Her feet were still very cold, in spite of the way that Fang had carried her for most of the trip. It seemed inevitable that they would both get sick, but hopefully whatever Fang had planned would be worth it.

Fang ducked in the snow and crawled into the snow fort, which had been built tall enough that Vanille could not see over it. When she followed Fang inside, she was surprised to find that it was completely dark.

"I thought it would be open on top," Vanille mused nervously.

"Come here. Follow my voice."

Vanille nodded, crawling on her hands and knees and gasping in surprise when she realized that the ground beneath her definitely was not snow. She felt a little nervous, since she was unable to see, so she crawled quickly toward Fang, who was humming quietly so that Vanille could find her. A sigh of relief escaped Vanille's lips when Fang's hands finally touched her arms and reeled her in, their warm bodies pressing together.

"Where are we, Fang?" Vanille inquired gently. "This place feels big. I thought it was just a snow fort."

"You'll see."

Fang suddenly struck a match against a stone, and Vanille gasped in surprise as the tiny light illuminated what must actually have once been a small burrow. It could have been a home to an animal, though the walls did not appear to be made of dirt but rather stones with strange symbols engraved into them.

"Kind of cozy in here, huh?" Fang grinned as she used the match to light a candle that she must have hidden in her coat pocket.

"How'd you find this place?" Vanille asked as she crawled to Fang's side and rested her head against Fang's chest.

"I had to do something while I was waiting for everyone to come look for me," Fang replied with a teasing grin. "I think this started out as an animal burrow, but look at the markings on the walls. There must've been a village near here. I dunno how long ago. Someone turned this into a cozy little hiding place."

"Why would someone want to stay here?" Vanille smiled faintly. "It's so small."

Fang shrugged and wrapped her arm around Vanille, weaving her fingers through her soft hair. "I dunno, but this kind of feels like home."

"We never lived in a cave," Vanille replied with a playful grin.

Fang narrowed her eyes. "If you don't get on board the This-Is-Awesome Train, I'm sending you out in the cold and you can walk back to Lightning's house by yourself."

Vanille gasped in surprise. "You wouldn't send me back alone."

Fang laughed lightly, tracing her fingers down the side of Vanille's face and leaning close until their foreheads pressed together. As she kissed her cheek, she agreed, "Nope, I wouldn't."

Vanille smiled warmly and leaned forwards to gently press her lips to Fang's. "Good, 'cause I don't wanna walk back. The snow's too deep."

"You know, I'm always the one who has to carry you places," Fang grumbled, brushing her nose against Vanille's. "Maybe this time you should carry me."

"Fang!" Vanille giggled, wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing against her. "You're too heavy."

"You killed a bear on your own. You must be pretty strong," Fang chuckled.

Vanille shook her head, still twittering with laughter as she leaned forwards to kiss Fang again. Their lips meshed together gently, bodies cuddled close as Fang slid her hands up Vanille's back.

xxx

It was so late at night that the third day of their stay in Lightning's home was giving way to the fourth. After waiting a long time after Vanille fell asleep, Fang crept out of bed, sliding onto the floor and crouching down. She closed her eyes and listened closely to the night air, but there were no sounds other than the clock ticking in the hallway outside of their room and Vanille's soft breathing on the other side of the bed.

Certain that there was no one else awake, Fang slid on a pair of boots and crept to the window. Lightning suspected that she had been responsible for the pranks that she had already played, so it was completely possible that the other girl had rigged traps around her door hoping to catch her in the act. There was only one reason to continue with her pranks, which would not end until she was caught. After all, the harmless tricks were just so fun.

Fang climbed onto the roof and slid her window gently shut behind her, since she could not afford for Vanille to catch a cold while she was gone. After she tested her warm hunting boots against the roof to make sure that she would not slip on the ice, Fang crept across the roof to the other side of the house. She listened for a moment, wondering if anyone could hear her walking on the roof from inside of the house, and then she dropped down onto the sill of a window she had unlocked earlier that day.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she slipped inside of the window, removing her boots so that she would not track wet footprints through the house. The knowledge that Lightning could be lying in wait for her anywhere left her extra cautious as she slid the window shut. After all, no one else was awake to stop the girl from trying to kill her, and she did not actually want to face Lightning in battle if she did not have to do so.

There were no sounds for a long time, so Fang eventually crept into the hallway, hugging the walls as she held the pack at her waist with one hand so that it would not rattle. She moved stealthily into Snow and Serah's bathroom, which she had already infiltrated once, and closed the door behind her.

Fang set her bag on the counter, opening it and removing her flashlight. When it was lit, she set it on the floor beside the toilet and began searching her bag for the superglue. A wide grin settled on her face as she superglued the toilet seat down, because she knew that Snow would be forced to use a different bathroom in the morning. Fang would not have thought to do such a thing earlier in the week, but that evening she had overheard Serah telling Sazh that Lightning felt very personal about her bathroom and would not let anyone else use it.

Even though it was possible that Lightning would not catch Snow using her toilet, she thought that the other girl might go crazy trying to figure out who had moved all her things around if Snow accidentally left the seat up or moved the soap to the other side of the counter when he was finished washing his hands.

When she was finished, Fang quickly moved down the stairs into the family room and then crept into the basement. She had been able to think of only one way to prank Sazh, and since she knew that he was the one who woke up the earliest in the morning, she doubted that anyone else would be caught in the crossfire. As quickly as she could, she rubbed a little bit of pepper juice onto the doorknob leading up the stairs.

Finally, Fang snuck into the kitchen and poured vinegar into both the milk and the juice so that the would taste sour.

After she decided that that was enough for one night, Fang climbed back onto the roof, brushing away her footprints as she went, and then crawled back through the window into the attic. She wiped her boots off in the bathroom before leaving them on the heater where they would be dry by morning, and then she changed her clothes and crawled back into bed.

Vanille stirred when the bed shifted, and as she moved close to Fang to hug her, she gasped in surprise, "Fang, you're freezing!"

"It was cold in the hallway," Fang replied gently, holding Vanille close.

"Why were you in the hallway?" Vanille pouted sleepily. "Did you play your prank on Sazh?"

"I didn't do anything." Fang kissed her forehead. "I just had to use the bathroom, and then I got a drink downstairs."

Vanille nuzzled against her, sighing. "You never used to lie about your pranks."

"None of the matrons every threatened to kill me," Fang replied with a sly look, "though I bet Matron Essle considered it once or twice."

"Probably." Vanille giggled and cuddled close to her.

Fang snuggled against her. "Now, go back to sleep."

Vanille nodded, yawning. "Goodnight, Fang."

"'Night."

Xxx

Vanille woke up alone the next morning. With a yawn, she dragged herself into the bathroom and took a shower. Then she wrapped a towel around herself and walked back into the bedroom to peruse through the closet. Ever since arriving, Vanille had found it very difficult to pick out an outfit each day, because Lightning's house was very cold and Vanille's clothes were more appropriate for the summer.

A shriek erupted from the downstairs. Both distracted and frightened, Vanille jumped and dropped her towel.

"Claire, are you all right?"

At the sound of Serah's frantic voice carrying up the stairs, Vanille immediately threw her towel around herself and followed the sound of Snow's voice, racing down the stairs to help. When she came around the corner, she found Serah and Snow standing outside of the closed door to Lightning's bathroom. Both wore concerned looks on their faces, making Vanille wonder what could have happened.

"Claire?" Serah asked gently, knocking on the door. "We heard a scream. Are you all right in there?"

Moments later, the door burst open, causing everyone to jump. Lightning walked out with a towel wrapped around her waist, though she was otherwise dressed, and a grumpy look on her face.

"Who used my bathroom?!" Lightning growled angrily.

Vanille raised her brows, not understanding why Lightning was only half dressed, and looked into the bathroom with a curious frown. Her eyes widened with surprise and realization as she saw that Lightning's pants were discarded on the floor near the toilet. It looked as though some of the water had splashed out of the tank and the seat was up.

"It was _you_, wasn't it?" Lightning suddenly demanded as she glared at Snow. "Don't you have your own bathroom?"

"Claire," Serah intervened nervously, "We would never use your bathroom. We know it bothers you."

"Yeah, we have our own bathroom," Snow replied agreeably, though he shifted uncomfortably.

"What's going on?" Hope suddenly rounded the corner. "I heard screaming and—"

The teenage boy suddenly froze as he spotted Vanille, who was standing on the other side of the hallway wearing nothing but a small towel that revealed most of her long, gorgeous legs. Beads of water dripped down from her glorious curls, tracing wet paths along her prickling skin and trailing down her shoulders and chest. Finally, the droplets would dip beneath the towel, which was small and clung tightly to her form.

Hope suddenly began to feel extremely uncomfortable, the blush hot on his face among other things. He immediately held the sweatshirt draped over his arm in front of his waist and backed up a step.

"Yeah, what's all the ruckus?" Fang asked as she suddenly appeared around the corner with a yawn. She was still dressed in her pajamas. "You woke me up."

Hope was a little pleased when everyone suddenly looked at the dark-haired Gran Pulsian woman.

"Snow used my bathroom and forgot to put the seat down," Lightning grumbled.

"What?" Serah frowned at Snow. "You actually used her bathroom? Why didn't you use ours?"

Snow hung his shoulders. "Okay, fine. I'm really sorry, Claire, but—"

"Why couldn't you use your own damn bathroom?" Lightning interrupted harshly.

"What're you so mad for, Light? It's just a bathroom." Fang looked amused. "It's not like you fell in, right?"

"You shut up!" Lightning stalked toward her, clenching one fist as she held up her towel with her other hand. "I haven't figured out which of the crazy things happening in this house have been your fault, but when I find out just exactly what you've been doing, I suggest you start running."

"I dunno why you're convinced it's always my fault," Fang whined, placing her hands on her hips.

Lightning ignored her, turning to look at Snow. "And _don't_ use my bathroom."

"I'm really sorry, but I _had_ to use your bathroom," Snow cried. "The toilet seat in my bathroom was broken."

"What do you mean?"

"The lid wouldn't go up," Snow explained with a frown. "I tried to fix it, but I really had to go!"

Lightning narrowed her eyes and turned to Fang with a glare. "The toilet seat was broken?"

"Hey, don't look at me." Fang put her hands up as though to prove her innocence and then wrapped one arm around Vanille's shoulders. "Ask her if you don't believe me. I was in bed all morning."

Vanille knew that Fang was lying, so she chose to remain silent, but she would not betray Fang if Lightning actually did ask her.

"She would lie for you." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, but she doesn't have to." Fang squeezed Vanille's shoulder gently. "I didn't do anything."

"We'll see about that. Snow, we're going to look at your toilet." As Lightning walked past, she noticed Hope standing against the wall, uncomfortably red. "What's wrong with you?"

"N-Nothing," Hope stepped out of her way, still standing rather awkwardly.

Lightning raised her brow at him before shrugging and storming away with Snow in tow. Fang and the others quickly followed, but Vanille chose to stay behind, frowning worriedly at Hope.

"Are you okay?" Vanille took a step toward him. "You don't look so good."

"I-I'm fine."

Hope's eyes unintentionally swept across Vanille's form and he felt even worse. He had never seen a naked woman before and he had definitely never stood so close to a soaking wet woman who wore only a thin towel, so he could not stop his mind from wandering. It was not a good idea to imagine Vanille's towel dropping, but he could not help himself! He had already seen her backside once when Fang had lifted her skirt to check her l'Cie brand.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Vanille asked gently, placing his hand on her forehead.

Hope's mouth began to feel dry and he pulled quickly away. "I'm fine, but I gotta go! See you later!"

As he pushed past her, Hope ran down to the basement, shutting the door behind him. He was pleased to see that Sazh and Dajh were nowhere to be found.

Still standing on the second floor, Vanille bit her lip and wondered if Hope had run downstairs because he was going to be sick. She thought it would be very sad if there was no one to take care of him, so she immediately followed him down.

Xxx

Lightning stood in the corner of her sister's bathroom, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground as Snow, looking both perplexed and embarrassed, lifted the toilet seat up and down.

"I swear it was broken this morning. It wouldn't go up this morning," Snow insisted suddenly, pulling away from the toilet. "I wouldn't use your bathroom otherwise, Light. This one is closer to my room."

Sazh, who had come up the stairs with Dajh a few minutes earlier when he had heard the commotion, walked inside and knelt beside the toilet, examining the hinges of the seat. He studied it for quite some time before shaking his head. "It doesn't look tampered with. Are you sure it was broken, Snow?"

"Maybe you were dreaming," Fang suggested with a light shrug. "Happens to the best of us in the morning. I remember one time when I was hardly awake. I looked out the window and thought I saw—"

"Shut up," Lightning interrupted, crossing her arms.

Fang pursed her lips. "Well, you're pleasant in the morning."

"Don't ever go in my bathroom again. I don't care if your toilet explodes," Lightning told Snow before turning to Fang with a dark look. "I know you had something to do with this because you can't wipe that smirk off your face."

"I dunno what you've got against me, Light, but I was sleeping. Ask Vanille."

"Claire, please. This was just an accident that won't happen again," Serah interrupted, placing her hand on her fiance's arm. "Snow was probably just really exhausted. We were up late last night."

"That's no excuse." Lightning lowered her eyes uncomfortably. "I shouldn't have to fall in my own toilet!"

"I know, but it was just an accident," Serah insisted again. "Sometimes he forgets to put the seat down in here, too. That's why you always have to check."

"_I _shouldn't have to check because _I_ don't live with a boy," Lightning corrected, turning away. "Just don't do it again."

A screech of surprise suddenly erupted from the basement.

"Vanille!" Fang gasped, realizing that the younger girl was not with them.

Without another word, Fang sprang down the stairs, her powerful legs carrying her to the ground floor where she saw Vanille racing out of the basement.

Hope was chasing behind her, crying, "Wait, Vanille! I swear it's not what it looks like!"

Fang reached out to grab the other woman's arm as she tried to run past her. "Vanille, what happened? Are you all right?"

"Let go!" Vanille cried desperately. "I can't look at him right now."

"Did that little prick try to hurt you?" Fang demanded angrily.

"No, nothing like that..." Vanille looked ashen as she glanced over her shoulder at Hope.

"What's going on?" Serah suddenly came around the corner holding a first aid kit, Lightning and Snow following quickly behind her.

Vanille was completely embarrassed, so she leaned up and whispered something in Fang's ear.

Fang snorted with amusement, muttering crassly, "Well, what d'you expect? He's fourteen. Maybe you should try not walking around naked."

"Fang!" Vanille whined, hugging herself. "This isn't funny."

Lightning, who understood the situation and felt a little horrified by the mental image that sprung to mind, pointed at Vanille and growled, "You, go put clothes on!" To Fang, she grunted, "You, stop laughing!" And when she looked at Hope, Lightning hesitated before grumbling, "You, go take a cold shower!"

"Go easy on him, Light," Snow insisted, feeling very bad for Hope. "It's not as easy as you girls think."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Serah asked gently.

Hope still looked like he wanted to die as Lightning frowned and leaned over to whisper in her sister's ear.

Serah gasped in horror. "What do you _mean_ it's not as easy as we think, Snow? Do _you_ do that, too?"

Snow's eyes widened. "N-No, of course not."

"Good, because it's disgusting!" Serah cried angrily.

Hope seemed to shrink even deeper into himself.

"From this point forwards," Lightning suddenly decreed uncomfortably. "No one does anything inappropriate under this roof."

"Wait, what about after we're married?" Snow gasped.

Lightning merely glared at him. "Get your own house if you want to do that."

"This house is getting a little too pure for me," Fang murmured in Vanille's ear, smirking.

Sazh suddenly walked by with Dajh completely ignorant to the situation. He did not bother asking what was wrong as he walked down the stairs, but a few seconds later he returned with a frown on his face.

"Hope, did you eat something downstairs?" Sazh asked with a frown. "The doorknob was wet and kind of sticky. I wiped it off, but wash your hands next time, okay? That's how germs spread."

Everyone stared at him for a moment before glancing at Hope and Serah cried with disgust, "You didn't even wash your hands?!"

Fang felt a little guilty, since Hope was beginning to look like he wanted to kill himself, so she admitted, "That was me, Sazh. I put a bit of pepper juice on the doorknob."

Lightning turned an angry shade of red. "I _knew_ you were playing pranks!"

"That's all I did, I swear!"

"Fang, putting pepper juice on the doorknob was dangerous," Sazh lectured angrily. "What if Dajh had gotten it in his eyes?"

Fang frowned as she realized that she had not considered that. "I was just getting annoyed because Hope was following Vanille around so much. I didn't think of Dajh. Sorry. It won't happen again."

Hope suddenly glared at Fang, but no one seemed to notice.

"You expect me to believe that's the only prank you played?" Lightning rolled her eyes. "From now on, no one does anything inappropriate _or_ plays pranks," Lightning asserted. "Christmas is supposed to be a happy holiday. If I wanted to have to chase kids around the house, I would have some!"

Fang snickered at that.

Lightning was still feeling irritated, so she turned to Vanille. "Why are you _still_ naked?!"

Vanille gave a frightened look before immediately scurrying up the stairs to change her clothes.

Since the situation had dissolved, Lightning walked up the stairs to resume her morning routine and Sazh walked back into the basement.

Snow remained to make sure that Hope was all right, assuring him gently, "It's okay, Hope. Everyone does it."

"I thought you said you didn't!" Serah cried.

"Lighten up, Serah," Fang winked as she slid past her, "And live a little for once."

Serah blushed darkly. "I would _never _do that!"

xxx

Fang walked up the stairs to the attic and pushed the door open, and she was surprised to find Vanille sitting in a chair staring out the window with a look of despair on her face.

"Was it really that bad?" Fang asked gently as she placed her hand on Vanille's shoulder.

"Actually, I feel really guilty." Vanille looked up with tears in her eyes. "Hope was so embarrassed. I didn't mean to scream like that. If I hadn't, everyone else wouldn't know what he was doing."

Fang sighed, beginning to massage her shoulders. "He'll get over it eventually, poor kid."

"I should apologize." Vanille lowered her eyes. "I also think you should stop playing pranks now, Fang. You got almost everyone, and Lighting was really mad."

Fang scoffed, pulling up another chair so that she could join her. "Light just need to relax. The pranks are funny, not harmful."

"It wasn't funny making Hope wet himself," Vanille insisted with a pout.

"_I_ think it was funny," Fang replied defensively.

Vanille sighed, turning her gaze out the window for a moment, and then stood up to seat herself on Fang's lap. She smiled when Fang wrapped her arms around her, since she had thought the other girl might be too upset, and she rested her cheek against her shoulder.

"Will you please stop playing pranks for a while?" Vanille begged quietly.

"Yeah." Fang ran her fingers through her hair. "If it really bothers you, I will."

"Thank you." Vanille wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her cheek.

"It's too bad you caught Hope in that state though," Fang replied with a smile, running her fingers up her back, "If you weren't so shaken, this would be a perfect time to take advantage of some alone time. Everyone else's busy."

Vanille smiled faintly. "Yep. It's too bad."

Fang pouted, causing Vanille to laugh at her.

"Maybe later. But right now, I wanna go for another walk," Vanille exclaimed, forcing a cheerful smile. "Everyone's so upset. I don't wanna be in the house right now."

"All right."

When the two of them were dressed in warm clothes, they walked down to the front door. Fang was just turning the handle when Snow blanched in the kitchen, crying, "Ugh, the milk went bad."

"Really?" Serah gasped, surprised. "The apple juice went bad, too. I really have to stop shopping at that market."

Vanille looked up at Fang, who smiled sheepishly and mumbled, "I swear I'll stop tomorrow."

Unable to keep from smiling, the younger woman brushed Fang's hair out of her eyes. "You're just like when we were kids."

"I'll take that as a compliment, thanks," Fang grinned as she wrapped her arms around Vanille's waist and tugged her out the door.

Xxx

In her bedroom on the second floor, Lightning paced back and forth, fuming. She generally did not tolerate much, let alone the antics of a prankster who in spite of being an adult acted like she was ten-years-old at most. Lightning was so irritated by the fact that Fang could play so many pranks and manage to keep everyone on her side that she had spent the last half hour putting together a checklist of everything that she was _certain_ Fang was responsible for, including the sink, the toilet seat, and Hope's embarrassing bed-wetting experience. Determining that Fang had broken the rules too many times to get away clean, Lightning decided that taking revenge was the only appropriate course of action.

There was no time to lose, so she folded the checklist, tucked it into her drawer, and immediately left her room.

Serah, who had been walking by, immediately paused to look at her. "Claire, there you are. I was really worried. You've been in there for a long time."

Lightning shrugged indifferently. "You haven't seen Fang around, have you?"

Serah shook her head. "She and Vanille left a while ago. I don't know where they went."

"Good." Lighting frowned. "How's Hope?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Serah replied, "He went in the basement afterwards and hasn't come back since. I can't believe he was doing something so disgusting."

"Stop calling it disgusting," Lighting chided. "Hope is embarrassed enough."

"But—"

"If you see Fang, I want you to pretend to see a spider and scream really loudly," Lightning interrupted suddenly.

"Why?" Serah raised her brows.

"Just do it."

"O-Okay."

As Lightning began to walk away, Serah watched her with a perplexed look.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

Author's Note: Here's the fourth installment of Christmas With Fang. This chapter is a little short, but hopefully you still like it!

Disclaimer: I wish I could think of an interesting disclaimer. But for some reason I can't, so alas: I do not own FFXIII or any of its characters. I do own the plot and any original characters mentioned.

It was morning on the fifth day since guests had arrived at the Farron household, but more importantly, it was day one of Lightning's revenge. Lightning woke up earlier than everyone else, creeping quietly through the house because she did not want to wake either Serah or Fang. Her fist bout of revenge involved leaving the house, but she could not afford to wake anyone, including Sazh, so she snuck out, taking the side door which was farthest away from all of the bedrooms and the basement.

After escaping from the house, Lightning trudged through the snow for a while, brushing away her footprints as best she could, before she finally found the main road. Under different circumstances, she would have walked around to the front of the house, but she knew that Fang would somehow look out the window, figure out that she was playing a prank, and find a way to turn it against her. The other woman was far too clever to fool without the utmost precaution, and Lightning refused to allow Fang to best her. For once, she was going to catch the Gran Pulsian warrior off guard.

By the time Lightning made her way through the snow-filled roads and into town, only a few of the many stores had opened. The lights in the shop she wanted to enter were still off when she arrived, so there was no choice but to stand outside of the pet shop, her hands shoved in her pockets and white breath escaping from her shivering form, until the owner of the pet shop arrived.

A while later, an elderly man came to the door, the keys shaking in his hands. He glanced at Lightning with raised brows. "Off to an early start this morning, miss?"

Lightning nodded firmly. "I want to buy a pet."

"Oh?" He raised his brows. "Well, I'm happy to have your business, but we won't be opening up for another hour yet. I'm here early today but none of my workers will be here for a while."

Lightning pursed her lips. "But I've been waiting for almost an hour."

"I'm sorry, miss, but our hours of operation are posted right here on the door." The old man frowned sympathetically. "There's a coffee shop across the street. Maybe you could wait there?"

"No." Lightning shook her head firmly and took a step toward him. "This is an emergency. I have to have the pet right now."

He looked her over with a confused frown. "Why?"

Thinking fast, she explained hastily, "My family celebrates Christmas a few days early. I'm a very punctual person, so I had all of the presents wrapped and prepared by last night-"

"Why do you celebrate early?" He interrupted with a peculiar look.

"My father's work schedule is really strange, so he can never get off the days that he wants," Lightning grumbled, annoyed by the interruption. "Anyway, suddenly last night my little sister started whining about how badly she wanted a pet. I said something that made her think I was going to get her one. Then she was so happy... Now, I have no choice. I have to buy something for her and get it back to my house before she wakes up. We're celebrating this morning."

He sighed wearily. "Well, all right. I guess there's no harm in letting you come in. I don't usually work behind the cash register, but I don't want to ruin your family's Christmas."

Lighting forced a smile that looked partially sincere. "Thank you. My sister will be very happy."

After spending a long time perusing the aisles, Lightning began to grow rather frustrated. She had no idea what she wanted to purchase, because she struggled to think of an animal that could frighten or upset Fang. At first, she had thought that it should be something large and ferocious, but then she remembered Fang telling her that she had been one of the best hunters in her village before she and Vanille had become l'Cie. No matter how many times she thought about it, she could not figure out what sort of animal could frighten a hunter.

"Can I help you find anything?" The elderly shop owner suddenly appeared at her side with a cheerful look on his face. "I've noticed you looking at all of the rats and snakes, but don't you think your sister would like something a little less frightening? Perhaps a puppy or a bird?"

With a shake of her head, Lightning muttered, "Actually, my sister really likes frightening animals."

"Oh, I see." He raised his brows. "Well, I suppose we could look at some of the bigger snakes."

"I already looked at the snakes. Fang won't be afraid of them at all!" Lightning snapped angrily.

The man jumped and furrowed his brows. "So, your sister's name is Fang? That's a peculiar name."

"Yeah. Anyway, my sister Fang really likes frightening animals. I don't think she'll want anything fluffy or cute. What do you have besides snakes?"

He touched his chin in thought before shaking his head. "I really think that the snakes are the most frightening pets that I have. Are you sure your parents will be all right with this?"

Lightning almost let slip that her parents were dead before she remembered the lie that she had told the elderly man. "Yes. I'm sure. They like frightening pets, too. In fact, we all do."

"Oh, okay." He gave her a strange look but smiled. "Well, as I said, I think the snakes are the most frightening pets we have here. Feel free to look at them. If they are not to your liking, there is another pet shop down the street that has some more exotic animals."

"All right, thanks." Lightning sighed.

The elderly man nodded and smiled awkwardly before turning to return to the cash register.

Lightning spent at least half an hour studying each and every snake, and it was only when she was on the brink of giving up that she had a stroke of genius. It was fairly unlikely that Fang was afraid of snakes, but Fang was not the only person who was a part of the equation. Vanille slept in the same bed as Fang, and she was arguably easier to frighten. If she were to stumble upon the snake rather than Fang, there was a high chance that she would at the very least shriek and at most refuse to sleep in that same bed ever again. The implications of that set aside, Fang would also have to get rid of the snake, which could be rather amusing. The only thing to consider was that Fang might bring the snake to the pet shops, which might lead to her realizing that Lightning had played the prank. However, by then it would not likely matter.

Once Lightning had Vanille in mind, it was much less difficult to choose a creature that would frighten her. She purchased the biggest non-poisonous snake in the shop, spending quite a bit of money, and tried to decide whether Vanille would simply scream and run to get Fang or actually pass out from fear. Either way, Lightning would consider upsetting the other woman to be the same as successfully playing a prank on Fang.

After purchasing the giant black snake and a cage, Lightning made the unnecessarily long trek back to her home, trudging through all the snow for a second time and walking into her house through the side door. She was pleased to find that everyone was still asleep because that meant that she would have time to play another small prank that could be very upsetting for Fang.

Without hesitation, for time was of the essence, Lightning raced up the stairs into her room and hid the snake in its cage under her bed. Then she snuck up the attic stairs, crept into Fang and Vanille's bathroom through the door in the hallway, and was especially quiet as she pulled the shower curtain aside. Lightning remained quiet for a while, straining her ears to make sure that neither Fang nor Vanille were awake. Then she tugged the body wash quickly out of the shower and poured half of its contents into the trashcan. After covering up the substance in the trash, Lightning proceeded to pour as much tanning lotion as she could into the half-empty tube. The lotion was meant for people who already had dark skin and would likely turn Fang's skin from its attractive natural tone to a dark orangish horror.

Her mission accomplished, Lightning snuck back out of the bathroom and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. The snake would have to be placed in the room later when neither Gran Pulsian was there, because Lightning could but sure that at least one of them would wake up if she opened their bedroom door.

Feeling rather good about herself because success was imminent, Lightning decided to make omelets for everyone, though she was sure to put particularly disgusting ingredients into Fang's omelet, mostly random bad smelling herbs from Serah's spice cabinet.

After around another hour, everyone began to file down the stairs, and they were each greeted by Lightning seated at the kitchen table with a coffee mug in one hand and a magazine in the other. Serah had been so impressed to find that Lightning had already made breakfast, that she hugged her sister tightly around the neck, causing her to shift uncomfortably in spite of the faint smile that rose to her features.

Lightning felt a little bit guilty when she noticed that Vanille had sat where she had placed Fang's disgusting omelet, but before she had the chance to try to switch their plates, Vanille had already begun eating. The younger of the two Gran Pulsian girls did not seem to notice anything wrong with her breakfast, so with a shrug Lightning excused herself from the table with the excuse that she had to use the bathroom. In truth, it was time for her new pet snake could _accidentally escape_ into Fang and Vanille's bed.

By the time Lightning returned to the kitchen, everyone was cleaning up their dishes and Serah and Vanille were excitedly flipping through one of the bridal magazines. Lightning cleared her throat, attempting to insert herself into the conversation without looking suspicious, though she became distracted when she noticed Fang walking out the front door.

"I think I'll go upstairs to take a shower," Vanille announced suddenly as she stood from the table.

Lightning attempted not to look interested, but she did watch Vanille walk up the stairs out of the corner of her eye. She could not wait to hear the other woman scream, as terrible as it sounded, because she knew that Fang would run up the stairs in panic and discover the snake.

Thirty minutes passed rather quickly, making Lightning wonder if Vanille had entered the bathroom from the hallway instead of going into her room, but she did not have time to investigate because Fang kept walking in and out of the house. When she came back in for the last time, Lightning could no longer contain her curiosity.

"Where were you?" Lightning asked suspiciously.

"Snow found a leak in one of the drains that's causing a lotta ice to form near the walkway," Fang replied absently, shrugging. "We're gonna fix it so no one slips on the driveway."

Lightning opened her mouth to tell Fang that she did not want them to repair anything inside or outside of her house without her permission, but she was distracted by the sound of footsteps on the stairway.

"Did someone lose a snake?" Vanille asked as she walked around the corner.

"What?" Serah looked up at Vanille and shrieked.

Lightning, upon seeing Vanille standing so calmly in the doorway with the snake wrapped around herself, nearly fell out of her chair.

"Fang, are you coming back outside?" Snow walked into the kitchen, but he jumped nearly out of his skin when he spotted the snake. "Whoa! Where did that thing come from?!"

"Don't worry. It's not a dangerous one," Fang exclaimed as she crossed the room to pet the scales on the snake's head.

"How can you just _hold it_ like that?" Serah cried fearfully.

"We had to deal with these buggers all the time during the rainy season," Fang explained with a reminiscent smile. "The matrons would make us carry them to the river, so we're pretty used to 'em."

"They wouldn't let us keep them as pets at the orphanage," Vanille murmured regretfully. "We did play with them a lot when we were little though."

Lightning internally cursed the fact that her prank had clearly failed. "Um, she's mine."

"_What?!_" Serah gasped in horror. "You've had a snake in the house all this time and you never thought to tell me about it?!"

"I kept her in my room," Lightning argued defensively, crossing her arms. "Besides, I don't see why I should have to tell you anything I don't want to since this is _my_ house."

Serah looked horrified. "How can you keep one of those scary things as a pet?"

"They're not so bad, Serah," Vanille insisted, carrying the snake toward her. "Look!"

"No!" Serah jumped backwards, fear filling her eyes. "Claire, please get rid of that thing!"

"If she bothers you that much, I could always give her away," Lightning mused, since she did not really want to keep the snake.

"I'll take her," Fang exclaimed enthusiastically. "Vanille's always wanted a snake."

"No," Lightning insisted irritably. "After all the pranks you played, you'll be lucky if I even let you stay here until Christmas."

"I'm innocent!" Fang argued, feigning exasperation. For good measure, she added with a faint smirk, "I'm the most innocent girl in the world."

"That title goes to Vanille," Hope interjected as he walked into the kitchen. "Vanille is way more innocent."

"I beg to differ, kiddo," Fang replied, winking at Vanille.

"Fang!" The younger woman protested, blushing faintly.

"Anyway, I'm going outside to fix that drain." Fang glanced at Snow. "You coming?"

"Sure. I'll get my tools."

"Who said either of you could fix the drain?" Lightning stood up. "I'll go fix it. I'm sure Fang would love to break it even more."

"I'm just trying to help, Light," Fang insisted.

"Besides, Claire, you _have_ to get rid of the snake," Serah cried, standing against the wall.

"What's that about a snake?" Sazh asked with a yawn as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, cool snake!" Dajh ran up to Vanille. "Can I get one, too?"

"Uh..." Sazh frowned.

"You can have that one if you want," Lightning grumbled, added distractedly as she followed Fang and Snow out of the kitchen, "Her cage is in my room, Vanille."

"You leave her in a cage?" Vanille inquired with a distasteful look. "I'll just let her loose in your room."

"No!" Serah screeched. "Put her in the cage right now!"

Vanille nodded, her eyes wide. "Okay. I'll leave her in the cage."

When the Gran Pulsian girl ran up the stairs with the snake, Dajh followed quickly behind her chattering excitedly about how the snake was his now and he wanted to put the cage in the basement.

Sazh followed behind them, shaking his head. "Lightning just _had_ to offer him the snake."

Xxx

Vanille found herself rather bored while Fang was outside fixing the drain, so she decided to go up to her room and read through some of the books that Serah had lent to her, since she and Fang had not acquired many possessions since the defeat of the fal'Cie and PSICOM. She was just about to plop down on her neatly made bed when there was a knock on the door.

"Just a second," Vanille called out cheerfully before skipping across the room. When she opened the door, a warm smile crossed her features. "Hope. How're you?"

Hope shifted awkwardly on his heels. "I'm okay. You?"

"I'm fine." Vanille giggled lightly. "I'm a little bored though."

Hope smiled awkwardly, looking at his feet. "About what happened yesterday—"

"You don't have to say anything about that," Vanille interrupted nervously. "I actually wanted to apologize. I wish everyone hadn't teased you. What you were doing was completely natural. I just...didn't want to see it."

"You don't think it's gross?" Hope asked hopefully.

Vanille blushed. "Well, I mean..."

"Sorry, that was a really weird question," Hope interrupted hastily. "Um, anyway...do you wanna hang out for a while? I know Fang's outside and you said you were bored..."

"Sure." Vanille smiled. "What d'you wanna do?"

Hope shrugged, still unable to look at her. "I don't know."

"Are you okay?" Vanille furrowed her brows worriedly. "You've looked really depressed lately."

"I _am_ kind of depressed," Hope admitted, nervous tension growing within him as he considered confessing his feelings.

"What's wrong?" Vanille pouted. "I hope I can make you feel better."

"Well, it's just..." Hope was going to tell her, but then he just couldn't. "There's this girl I like, and I really want her to think I'm cool and mature and stuff, since I think she's older than me. She's really pretty and awesome though."

"That's so exciting!" Vanille clapped her hands together.

Hope's eyes widened. "R-Really? You're excited?"

Vanille nodded her head vigorously. "Is she a girl from your classes?"

"Oh. No, n-not really." Hope lowered his eyes, because for a second he had thought that she knew it was her and felt the same way. "I just want her to notice me and think I'm cool, but I'm not cool at all. I'm fourteen-years-old and I haven't even had my first kiss."

"I was fifteen," Vanille replied with a faint smile, placing her hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. "You know, when I was you're age, I felt the same way. No one had ever kissed me, and all the girls in the village made fun of me. I told Fang that I wished I'd had my first kiss, and you know what she told me?"

"What?" Hope asked dryly, nervous about the answer.

"She said first kisses are no big deal." Vanille giggled and retracted her hand. "Fang was wrong though. Her first kiss was a dare or something, not special at all, but mine was like a fairytale."

Hope frowned faintly. "Are you trying to make me feel better?"

Vanille laughed and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't feel bad, because you should wait for the best first kiss possible."

"Who was Fang's first kiss?" Hope asked curiously. He actually wanted to know who Vanille's first kiss had been, but he was too afraid to ask.

Vanille tapped her finger on her chin as she thought about it, but then she shook her head. "She never told me."

Hope tried to ask who had first kissed Vanille, but he was just too afraid that he knew the answer. "I still just really want an amazing first kiss with the most amazing girl in the world."

Vanille smiled warmly. "That's so sweet."

Hope stared at her for a moment, because she looked so beautiful that he wanted to lean in right at that moment. Unfortunately, a knock on the door caused Vanille to stand up and immediately pull it open.

"Hi, Serah." Vanille smiled brightly. "Do you need something?"

Serah looked flustered by the fact that Hope and Vanille had been sitting on the bed together. "Oh, I just came to take back the body wash I let Fang borrow yesterday. Will she still need it tomorrow?"

"Yep. She's allergic to the wash I bought, but we can go out tonight and get something else if you want yours back."

"Okay, thanks." Serah followed Vanille into the bathroom to retrieve her body wash.

"Thanks for letting her borrow it," Vanille chirped. "Fang really appreciated it."

"You're welcome."

Serah paused in the doorway, frowning as she noticed that Hope was watching her impatiently and waiting for her to leave. Now that she knew how much younger Hope was than Vanille, she was not sure that she wanted him to be spending time alone with Vanille. There was no knowing what things had been like in Fang and Vanille's village, but Serah was willing to be that the rules about who was old enough to be with someone else could be different than things were five hundred years later.

Unwilling to allow any chance of Hope's innocence being destroyed, Serah requested, "Hope, Claire needs your help outside. Why don't you come downstairs with me?"

"Are you sure she needs me _right now_?" Hope frowned.

"Yes, I'm sure." Serah stood her ground. "Come on."

Hope looked crushed but assured Vanille, "I'll come back later."

"Okay." Vanille waved cheerfully as they left.

xxx

Late in the evening when the games were finally done and the wine had been put away, Fang followed Vanille sleepily up the stairs to the attic. The younger girl glanced over her shoulder several times, a curious look on her face.

"Fang?" Vanille finally asked.

"Yeah?"

Vanille paused in her steps, looking at her. "Who was your first kiss?"

"What's that?" Fang raised her brow, not sure that she had heard her correctly as she placed her hand on her back so that she would keep walking.

As Vanille walked into the bedroom on the third floor, she explained, "You never told me who was your first kiss."

"I never thought it was important." Fang smiled faintly. "Where's this coming from?"

"Hope and I were talking about first kisses today," Vanille replied. "He asked who yours was and I realized I didn't know."

"Hm." Fang smirked faintly. "Did you tell him who yours was?"

Vanille shook her head. "He didn't ask."

"So?" Fang grinned.

"Fang!" Vanille pouted. "Who was it?"

"Does it bother you, not knowing?" Fang asked with a cheeky grin. "After all these years?"

"A little." Vanille looked away.

"Why? Are you jealous?" When Vanille shook her head, Fang added, "You look a little jealous."

"Well, I'm not," Vanille huffed, crossing her arms.

Fang laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around her and resting her cheek against the top of Vanille's head. "Remember Aria?"

"You kissed Aria?!" Vanille gasped in shock. "But she thought we were so gross!"

"Not Aria," Fang laughed lightly. "Her older sister."

"That was you?" Vanille's eyes widened. "Aria told me about that."

"I'm surprised she knew."

Vanille looked at the ground thoughtfully. "Was she good?"

"I dunno." Fang smirked faintly. "Was _I_ good? She's the only one I ever kissed before you."

"I guess she wasn't that good then," Vanille teased.

"Really?" Fang raised her brow playfully, her fingers traveling slowly down Vanille's back. "You didn't seem to have any complaints."

Vanille bit her lip to keep from giggling. "Well, I wasn't gonna say anything. I didn't wanna hurt your feelings."

Fang narrowed her eyes, punishing Vanille by tickling her sides. Vanille squealed in surprise, trying to escape from her, but Fang merely trapped her in her arms.

"If you want me to stop, you'll have to admit that you're lying," Fang sniffed, grinning as she tickled her sides a little more gently.

"But you always win," Vanille protested. "It's not fair."

Fang smiled, since it did not actually matter since Vanille was just teasing. "Fine. You can win, but I know you're lying."

Vanille grinned up at her, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around her neck to pull her closer. Fang leaned into her, capturing her lips in passionate kiss that augmented until they were stumbling toward the bed, still quite attached to each other.

As Fang guided Vanille gently back against the pillows and began to kiss her neck, the younger woman giggled, "Lightning said nothing inappropriate in her house."

Fang laughed against Vanille's collar bone. "That didn't stop us last night."

Vanille's giggle turned promptly to a moan at the swift motion of Fang's fingers dipping beneath her shirt.

Xxx

On the other side of the house and down one floor, Serah decided that she would take a quick shower before bed. She had had such a long day that she took her time, generously applying body wash as she scrubbed away all of the troubles and stress of planning a wedding. Even after she was finished, she remained within the stream of warm water and relaxing steam for almost half an hour.

When she was finally finished, Serah climbed out of the shower and wiped the condensation away from the mirror so that she could comb her hair. However, upon seeing her reflection, she froze for a moment, completely paralyzed. Then she screamed loudly, because her skin had turned a blotchy orange color. At first, she thought she had somehow been responsible, using some kind of poisonous combination of soap and shampoo, but then she remembered that Fang had been the last person to use her body wash.

She promptly saw red.

Serah immediately stormed out of the bathroom, the state of her skin eliciting a gasp of shock from Snow, and flew up the attic stairs. When she reached Fang and Vanille's door, she pounded angrily against it, shouting for Fang to wake up.

Eventually, the door opened, revealing Fang wearing nothing but a baggy t-shirt that was wrinkled in a way that suggested she had just thrown it on. Her eyes were bleary, proving that she had been asleep, but she snapped out of it rather quickly at the sight of Serah's skin.

"What happened to you?" Fang gasped.

"You tell me!" Serah shrieked, her eyes practically glowing with anger. "Fang, I really believed that you didn't play any of those pranks, but now I know that it was you. I can't believe you would do this to me. Will this even come out of my skin!?"

"Calm down," Fang commanded, narrowing her eyes. "I didn't do anything."

"You call this not doing anything?" Serah shouted angrily.

"What's going on?" Vanille asked groggily, rubbing her eyes with one hand as she came to the door. Her other hand held one of the bed sheets securely around her, but the bare skin of her legs and shoulders showed.

Serah's eyes widened as she looked between them and momentarily forgot her anger. "Oh."

"What's going on?" Vanille yawned as she moved closer to Fang. "I'm really sleepy."

Fang offered a faint smile, wrapping her arm around Vanille and running her fingers back and forth over Vanille's bare shoulder. "Go back to bed. We're just talking."

"But people were _yelling_," Vanille insisted as she rubbed her eyes. Then she squinted at Serah and gasped in shock. "Serah, what happened to you?"

"Ask her!" Serah cried, pointing at Fang as tears began to pour down her face.

Vanille covered her mouth in horror before glancing at Fang. "Did you do that?"

"I didn't," Fang insisted, squeezing her arm gently. "I swear."

Vanille shook her head, looking back at Serah. "Fang never lies to me about her pranks. Even if she does, I can always tell."

"What's going on up here?" Lightning's voice suddenly drifted up the stairs.

"Oh, Claire," Serah cried, "it's terrible."

Lightning came up the stairs and her eyes widened when she saw what had happened to her sister. "Serah—what—how did this happen?!"

"I don't know." Serah hung her head as Snow wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I let Fang borrow my body wash, but she said she didn't do this and Vanille believes her. I don't know what to think. I look like a monster."

Lightning felt rather guilty, but she had no choice but to accuse Fang because she could not let her sister found out that she had actually done it. So, glaring coldly, she stomped toward Fang. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything," Fang insisted as she released Vanille and stepped slightly in front of her as though to keep her out of Lightning's path.

"If you play one more prank in this house, I swear I will kill you," Lightning snapped, crossing her arms. "There's no one else in this house with such a cruel sense of humor, so I know it was you. You can apologize to everyone else for all the other pranks you played in the morning, and you are paying for my sink to be repaired."

"I didn't do anything," Fang told her angrily, "and I had nothing to do with what happened to Serah. I used the same body wash this morning and nothing happened to me."

"_Right_, you haven't done _anything_," Lightning grumbled before turning around and took her sister by the arm. "Come on. We'll find a way to get that out."

Serah glanced tearfully over her shoulder at Fang, and Snow crossed his arms, criticizing, "That was really cruel, Fang."

As she watched them go, Fang glanced over her shoulder at Vanille. "You believe it wasn't me, right? I told you I'd stop, and I did."

Vanille nodded sleepily, closing the door and tugging on Fang's arm. "In the morning I'll make something to get the dye out of her skin and she'll forgive you."

Upon hearing that, Fang wondered if Vanille really did believe her, but she decided not to ask as she followed her back to bed. As Vanille curled into her arms, Fang mused that it was a bit ironic that she was blamed for all the other pranks because of one prank for which she was not responsible. Thoughts of who could have framed her and who had the motive to do so led to only one conclusion.

It was either Hope or Lighting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Author's Note: Here is the next installment of Christmas with Fang. Sorry it took me so long to post. I've been really overwhelmed with essays and upcoming midterm assignments. The chapter this week is a little short, but I hope you like it anyway! Thanks for reading! :)

Disclaimer: FFXIII does not belong to me. It belongs to Square Enix.

It was the sixth day since guests had arrived. Lightning was so angry that all her pranks had failed the day before that she had become determined to make a second attempt at her revenge. Thus, she had waited all day for the others to finally leave the house, all of them deciding to play in the snow together. When they were finally gone, she snuck into Fang and Vanille's bedroom, refrained from flicking on the lights even though the blinds were drawn because she knew somehow Fang would notice, and then snuck into the bathroom.

Lightning pulled open the shower curtain and paused, glancing over her shoulder because she half expected Fang to push the door open behind her with that irritating smirk on her face. When that did not come to pass, she returned to her task, removing a thin film of gel from a plastic bag and sticking it rather well against the shower head. She pressed her hand against the filmy substance several times to make sure that it would not fall down before she was finally satisfied.

With a smug look, Lightning backed away and mused that there was no way Fang could see that prank coming. Whoever took the next shower in that room would be in for an unpleasant surprise, because when the water from the faucet hit the thin film of gel, a chemical reaction would cause it to explode. The color would easily wash out and it was both non-toxic and non-irritating, but it would be quite funny anyway. Lightning could only hope that Fang fell prey instead of Vanille, because the warning label claimed that those with light hair colors might not be able to wash out the dye.

The front door suddenly opened and closed downstairs, causing Lightning to throw the shower curtain shut and race out of the attic so quickly that she was certain whoever it was had to know her secret. She walked nonchalantly into the kitchen expecting a reprimand, but she was relieved to see that not only was it Hope, but he did not appear to have any idea where she had come from.

"Hey, Light." Hope raised his brow curiously. "How come you're not outside?"

"I don't like snow," Lightning replied stiffly, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms to avoid suspicion.

"Oh." Hope shrugged indifferently. "Well, I just came in for a drink of water."

"Okay." Lightning fidgeted uncomfortably, sure that somehow he would figure out what he had done. Then she would have to swear him to secrecy but Fang would find out anyway and then she would never have her revenge.

Hope tugged a glass out of the cabinet before carrying it to he bathroom, since the sink was still broken, and then he returned and sat down at the kitchen table. After taking a few small sips, he exclaimed dejectedly, "I'm really depressed, Light."

Lightning tapped her foot impatiently, because she had another prank to set up and she did not have time to give him a therapy session. "You'll get over whatever's bothering you."

"I know, but..." Hope's shoulders suddenly fell and he set his glass down on the table. "Can I talk to you about it? I don't want to tell anyone else. It's...embarrassing."

With pursed lips, Lightning mused that she would have to set up the prank while he was talking to her. Shifting uncomfortably, she agreed, "Yeah, we can talk. What's wrong?"

"Are you sure?" Hope asked as he studied the way that she moved around uncomfortably. "It's like..._emotional stuff_."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "I said we could talk."

"Okay." Hope smiled warmly, looking more pleased than she had thought he would to have the opportunity to share with her. "It all started the first time I ever saw Vanille. She's so gorgeous, you know? So, anyway, I..."

The elder of the two Farron sisters turned her back on Hope as he continued to tell her all about the younger Gran Pulsian woman. While he was still talking, she began retrieving all the materials she would need to make a batch of cookies, since that was the only prank that she could play right in front of the others without anyone noticing. As Hope explained in detail everything that Vanille had ever said or did to make him love her, Lightning nodded noncommittally and all but pretended to be listening. Instead, she was stirring ingredients together, blending them, and rolling the dough into balls.

If Hope noticed how diverted her attention was, he did not comment, finally finishing with, "It's really hard to be around her right now, you know? I keep trying to tell her how I feel but then chickening out. Then Fang played that prank on me to make me look like a baby. She's obviously jealous." Hope frowned faintly. "Shouldn't Vanille get to be with whoever she wants? Just because she and Fang have always been best friends forever doesn't mean that she shouldn't get to be with me-"

"Hope," Lightning interrupted with a roll of her eyes, "your argument's pretty weak considering that Vanille is with Fang."

"No, she _isn't_," Hope cried angrily. "There's no proof of that."

After putting the first pan of cookies into the oven and removing her mitts, Lightning turned to face him with a sigh. "Look, you just have to accept it. Fang and Vanille are together whether you like it or not. If you ask Vanille, she'll tell you herself."

"No, she would tell me that you're crazy and she can't believe you would think that," Hope insisted irritably. "I know she would."

"Vanille is too old for you anyway," Lightning added with a disapproving look.

Hope decided that he no longer wanted to talk about the situation with someone who obviously did not support him, so he asked, "Are you making _cookies_?"

Lightning stiffened and glanced up at him. "Yeah. So what?"

"I didn't know you baked stuff," Hope replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm going back outside. Can I try one of those when I come back in? I love cookies."

"No," Lightning replied hastily, realizing that she had not considered that the others might want some. "They're special cookies. You can't have any."

"Why not?" Hope pouted like a child. "They're not for everyone?"

"No, they're..." Lightning faltered.

"Hope, are you inside?"

At the sound of Vanille's sweet voice, Hope bolted out of his chair and raced out of the room without so much as a look in Lightning's direction. "I'll be right there, Vanille. What do you need?"

Lightning leaned back against her chair with a sigh of relief and mused that for once she was glad the idiot was head-over-heels for Vanille. After all, it would be difficult to explain that her cookies were not meant for anyone but Fang. They contained several unconventional ingredients such as cayenne pepper juice, carrots, and large quantities of salt and several spices that she had found in the cabinets that made her eyes water just from smelling them. As a final measure, she had added a generous amount of prunes.

Revenge would taste so vile.

xxx

Almost an hour passed, and Lightning sat by herself in the kitchen flipping through one of Serah's bridal magazines with a look of distaste. She could not understand why so many girls wanted to waist their entire lives planning a wedding that would obviously cost more than their entire life savings. As she looked through every page rather carefully, she decided that if she ever married, which would only happen if Cocoon floated back up into the sky, then she would definitely wear everyday clothes. No one else would be invited, and as for the ceremony, the official could stand in front of her and her betrothed and say, "Bam! You're married!" for all she cared.

The front door opened for the second time since the others had left, causing Lightning to jump out of her seat and pick up the tray of cookies. It was difficult to suppress her smirk when Fang walked innocently into the kitchen. The older of the two Gran Pulsians looked rather worn out from playing in the snow for too long, which would make her less likely to notice things like the vengeful atmosphere in the kitchen that afternoon.

Ignoring Lightning, Fang plucked a cup out of one of the cabinets, carried it to the bathroom, and returned with a full glass of water.

"Oh, it's you," Lightning grumbled suddenly when Fang returned, setting the cookies on the table and sitting back down.

Fang smirked down at her as she took another sip of water. "Not happy to see me, Light? I'm hurt."

With a roll of her eyes, Lightning grumbled, "I'm busy, Fang. Go back outside."

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Fang plopped down at the table. "What's the rush, Light? You wanna get rid of me?"

"I'm just still mad at you," Lightning seethed, glaring.

Fang chuckled lightly before leaning across the table. "Did you put all that nasty dye in Serah's body wash? Poor thing. She was devastated."

"What?" Lightning snapped, suppressing her look of surprise. "You're the one who did that, if I remember correctly."

"Oh, come on, Light." Fang shook her head, disappointed. "Out of everyone here, we both know that I didn't play that prank."

"Why is that?" Lightning growled.

"Because it was too sloppy," Fang insisted, shrugging. "I never would've put the dye in her body wash when I was obviously the last person to use it." With another smirk, Fang added, "So, it was obviously someone else in the house, someone who wanted to frame me. The way I see it, there're only two people in the house who would wanna do that, and only one of them would be smart enough to turn Serah against me."

Lightning snorted indignantly. "I would never play a prank on my own sister."

"Maybe, maybe not." Fang stood from the table, assuring her, "But I _will_ find out who did it."

"I don't know what you're up to, Fang, but it won't work," Lightning responded, sighing. "Everyone knows it was you."

Fang narrowed her eyes, a smile playing across her features. Instead of replying, she asked, "Making cookies, Light?"

"Yeah. You want some?" Lightning glanced up at her with narrowed eyes.

With an indifferent shrug, Fang replied, "Sure."

"Well, they're not for you, so don't touch them," Lightning replied harshly. "Do you think I would bake for you after everything you did?"

"Oh, they're not for me?" Fang walked over to stand in front of the tray of cookies, looking down at them as though to choose which one she wanted.

"I'm serious." Lightning set down her magazine and glared.

"Yeah?" Fang snatched one of the cookies off of the tray. "Who's gonna stop me?"

Lightning clenched her fists. "Fang, I'm ten seconds from dragging you outside and locking the door."

"It'd be kind of cruel to lock everyone else out, don't you think?" Fang teased, holding the cookie close to her face and opening her mouth as though she would take a bite. She paused, smirking as Lightning stared at her expectantly, before finally setting the cookie down on the table and murmuring gently, "Anyway, if they're not for me, I won't eat them. That's how much I respect you, Light."

"You might as well eat it now," Lightning snapped desperately. "You already touched it."

"No one'll know unless you tell 'em," Fang replied, smirking over her shoulder before she turned to walk out of the room.

Lightning waited until she heard the door shut before slamming her fist against the table. She was so upset that the cookie prank had also failed that she stomped up the stairs and went into her bathroom to splash some cool water on her face. While she was there, she struggled to think of a prank so good that it would fool even Fang.

Eventually, she was too stressed to think of anything at all, so Lightning decided to soak in the tub for a while as she plotted her next attack. The aroma of the bath salts and the steam rising all around her was so comforting that she lost track of time and fell asleep right there in the tub.

xxx

"It's getting really cold out here," Serah murmured into Snow's shoulder as she cuddled against him. "Maybe we should all go inside before someone gets sick."

With a warm smile, Snow wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and pulled her closer. "Yeah, you're probably right. There are clouds moving in anyway. I bet it will snow a lot tonight."

"I hope so," Serah grinned excitedly, pressing her hands together. "I want as much snow as possible for Christmas. It'll make Lightning happy as well, because more snow means less people can come here caroling or asking for donations."

Snow grinned, kissing Serah on the cheek. "Lightning's out of luck, but _you_ can have as much Snow as you want for Christmas!"

Serah giggled into his shoulder and hit his chest. "Snow, that was terrible!"

"What?" He pouted sadly. "I thought it was great."

"I was just joking," Serah assured him with a grin. "It was really good."

They heard footsteps trudging through the snow behind them and turned around to see Sazh approaching with the others following behind him. "Snow, Serah, we're going inside. It's getting a little too cold out and we've been out here for hours."

"We're going in, too. We were just going to call all of you," Serah agreed before turning to Snow with a worried frown. "Is that okay, Snow? I didn't want to speak for you."

He nodded enthusiastically, hugging her around the waist for a second time. "That's a great idea, and once we get inside, I'll start a fire so everyone can warm up."

"Oh, that will be so nice." Serah snuggled into his arms. "You're so smart, Snow."

"You're the smart one," Snow argued with a grin.

"No, _you're_ the smart one."

"No, you are. I'm just the big oaf."

"Don't call yourself that!" Serah gasped in shock. "I think you're a genius, Snow. Don't listen to anything that Claire says."

"You think I'm a genius?" Snow asked with a goofy, loving look.

"Yes, I do." Serah nodded, biting her lip.

Then they leaned in and kissed each other.

Fang walked up behind them with Vanille and, as a joke, rolled her eyes and feigned blanching. Her actions caused Vanille to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggling.

Once they were all inside the house, Hope called out, "Lightning, we're back!"

His words were met with silence, which caused Fang to give them room a suspicious once-over. She doubted very much that Lightning would play any kind of prank on her in front of the others, but one could not be too careful.

"Claire?" Serah called out nervously, kneading her hands together. "Are you here?"

"Maybe she's taking a nap," Snow suggested gently as he removed his boots and walked into the family room to start a fire.

"I guess you're right," Serah exclaimed before nodding to the others. "Remember to take your boots off before going inside. Claire wants to make sure we don't ruin the new floors."

"Awesome!" Hope practically kicked his boots into the wall as he told Dajh excitedly, "If Light's taking a nap, she won't notice if we eat some of her cookies."

"Cookies?" Dajh gasped happily. "Can I have one, Daddy? Please?"

"Sure, son," Sazh replied distractedly, following Snow into the family room.

Serah blinked. "What cookies? I didn't make any."

"Lightning was making cookies while we were outside, but she said they were special and I couldn't have any," Hope explained as he raced into the kitchen. When he saw that the tray was sitting unguarded on the kitchen table, he added, "I don't think she'll notice if we each just take one. There are so many. What else could they be for if they weren't for us?"

"That's a good question, kiddo," Fang, who could hear him from where she was standing against the front door, murmured under her breath.

"Don't you want a cookie, Fang?" Vanille inquired gently as she listened to Serah lecture the boys about how it was not right to take something that was not theirs.

"Nope, and you don't either," Fang replied, wrapping her arms around Vanille's waist and drawing her close.

"Why not?" Vanille pouted nervously. "This isn't a prank, right? You promised, Fang."

"I was told not to touch them, that's why," Fang replied cryptically, running her fingers through Vanille's curls. "If it _is_ a prank, it's not mine."

The young woman gave her a confused look before shrugging and snuggling into her embrace.

Two screams erupted suddenly from the kitchen, followed by the sound of Dajh crying. Fang immediately tensed, releasing Vanille and springing into action in case it was some kind of attack. Sazh and Snow were right in front of the two Gran Pulsians, throwing themselves into the kitchen, and Sazh immediately ran to his son's side shouting, "What happened?!"

Serah ignored them, throwing the refrigerator door open. Her shoulders fell as she cried, "There's no milk left!"

"Water!" Dajh cried loudly, his tongue so red that it looked like it had caught on fire. "I need water!"

Hope's chest was heaving and he looked like he could not even breathe. "So...spicy! Tongue...burning!"

"What's going on?" Vanille cried, beyond worried. "What happened?"

Hope ignored her as he realized suddenly how they could cool their mouths off. Without a word, he raced across the room and turned on the broken faucet, opening his mouth. As an explosion of water soaked the floor, Hope allowed the water from the faucet to spray right into his mouth. Dajh quickly followed his lead, wiping the tears from his eyes as he raced toward the sink.

When they finally turned off the faucet, Vanille demanded, "What happened?"

There was no time to answer, for they all could hear the footsteps thundering down the stairs.

Lightning suddenly sprang into the room wearing a bathrobe. Her skin was pruned and her hair was dripping, but she looked prepared to attack. Unfortunately, just as she came into the room, she slipped in the water on the floor and slammed her head painfully into the floor. When she sat up, she looked absolutely enraged.

"What the hell is going on here? Why is the floor soaked _again_?!"

"You tell us what's going on, Light." Fang crossed her arms, smirking faintly. "Your cookies almost killed those poor boys."

"My _what_?" Lightning blinked in confusion before it all came flooding back to her and her eyes widened. "Oh, the cookies..."

"Claire, what did you put in those cookies?" Serah gasped. "Hope could barely breathe."

"I..." Lightning felt panic crawling up in her chest as she studied the sick faces of both Hope and Dajh. Sazh looked very angry with her, so she was not prepared to admit what had really happened. Angry and defensive, she suddenly snapped, "Well, I told you not to eat them, didn't I, Hope?"

"I didn't know they were poisonous!" Hope protested, his voice raspy.

"Would it be okay if they weren't poisonous?" Lightning pulled herself off of the floor, shifting uncomfortably in her bathrobe.

"Claire, why did you make poisonous cookies?" Serah asked worriedly. "Are you...feeling sick again?"

"They're _not_ poisonous," Lightning asserted coldly.

"Then what are they?" Fang tilted her head, hiding the look of triumph because she had discovered the other prankster. "Were you trying to hurt someone, Light? If this was a prank, I'm pretty impressed."

With a dark glare, Lightning protested, "It wasn't a prank. The cookies are just...special. They were meant for me because no one likes them the way I make them."

"Claire, I've never seen you make cookies before," Serah argued sadly. "Was this a prank?"

"I always made them while you were at school!" Lightning snapped. "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"O-Of course not, Claire," Serah whispered, biting her lip. "Maybe you could just warn us next time, since the cookies are so...special."

"I dunno why you're not taking credit for this prank, Light," Fang interrupted with a smug look and a shrug. "I mean, it's pretty hard to believe you made them for yourself when you couldn't even handle a few drops of pepper juice in your tea."

"Shut up, Fang!" Lightning's cheeks turned red. "I love these cookies. I eat them all the time."

"Let's see you eat one then, if they're really your favorite," Fang requested with the faintest grin. "It'd put my mind to rest."

Everyone looked at her expectantly and Lightning knew that she had no choice, so she picked up one of the cookies, ignored the way that her nose wrinkled at the smell of it, and took a bite. The pain of the hot spices made her eyes water, but she had to pretend, so she forced down several more bites until the entire cookie was gone. Her throat hurt so much by the time it was over that it was all she could do to manage to speak.

"See?" Lightning's voice was strained. "They're delicious."

Serah gave her a strange look, but ultimately she shrugged it off. Snow did not appear to be any the wiser, and Sazh looked a little more satisfied now that he knew it was an accident. Even Vanille did not seem to suspect her as she skipped after Hope to make sure that he was all right.

That left Fang and Lightning in the kitchen alone together.

"You should leave it to the professionals, Light," Fang murmured, winking. "Playing with fire is dangerous."

Lightning practically coughed in response. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Fang laughed lightly before turning to leave the room.

Once Lightning was certain that everyone was gone, she sprinted up the stairs to her bathroom where she turned on the faucet and stuck her mouth underneath it. It took fifteen minutes to get the taste out of her mouth, and even then she was sure that her tongue would have blisters.

xxx

Many hours later found Vanille sitting alone on her bed. Several hours earlier, Vanille had begun to feel a little bit nervous, because she and Fang had not yet discussed what they were going to do when the holiday season was over. Although their return to Oerba had grown into an unexpected adventure, Vanille was not sure that she wanted to go back. In spite of what they had found upon their return, Vanille missed all of their old friends and the life that they had lost so badly that she would rather spend time with her new friends than return to a village haunted with memories that she still could hardly face. However, Fang had found happiness upon their return to Oerba, which made Vanille too nervous to share her feelings with the other woman. She would go wherever Fang wanted to go, even if she really just wanted to settle down in Troth with their friends.

In order to help herself relax, Vanille had decided to make a bracelet out of pink, white, and yellow beads that she had purchased when she had shopped with Hope the other day. Stringing the bracelet together and humming a lullaby that the matrons had sung to her to help keep the nightmares away when she was a little girl sincerely helped to keep her mind off of the inevitable discussion she would have with Fang and the disappointment that she might see in the other woman's eyes if she confessed that she did not want to return to Oerba or any of the villages nearby.

A knock on the door startled Vanille out of her thoughts and at first she thought that Fang must have returned, but then she realized that the other woman would not have knocked first. Politely, she called out, "Come in!"

The door opened slowly and Hope poked his head inside, clearly afraid that he had misheard her and might interrupt something. However, when he realized that she was just sitting there staring expectantly at him, he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside.

With a nervous smile, Hope exclaimed, "Hey, Vanille!"

"Hi, Hope." A warm smile flitted across her features. "Does your throat feel better?"

"Yeah, definitely! Serah went out and bought some milk for me and Dajh so now we both feel a lot better." He smiled awkwardly. "Um, Sazh is giving Dajh his bath downstairs, but I really wanted to get ready for bed. Can I use your shower?"

"Sure." Vanille nodded pleasantly. "There are some extra towels under the sink. Feel free to use any of the soap or body wash you like, though it all smells kind of girly..."

"It's okay." Hope chuckled lightly. "I brought my own soap."

Vanille smiled. "Really? That was so smart."

Hope blushed. "You think so?"

"Of course, Hope. I wouldn't have thought of that," Vanille replied with a giggle. "Anyway, if you need anything, let me know. I'll be right here."

"Okay..." Hope stared at her for a long moment, completely entranced, before tearing his eyes away and racing into the bathroom. "I'll be really quick!"

"You can take your time!" Vanille assured him gently. "I already got ready for bed, and I shower when I wake up."

The younger boy did not answer, so Vanille resumed humming to herself as she strung her beads together.

A while later, Vanille heard the shower curtain slide open. She went on humming to herself as the water turned on, but she almost fell off of the bed when Hope suddenly screamed in distress. Vanille jumped out of bed immediately, unsure what was happening but wanting to help if she could. Unfortunately, the covers caught on her ankle as she tried to race toward the bathroom, causing her to trip onto the floor. She dislodged her foot from the blankets, which were now spread across the floor and bunched at the edge of the bed, and ran to the bathroom door.

"Hope, are you okay in there?" Vanille called worriedly. "I thought I heard you scream..."

At the very same moment, Serah came bounding into the attic, practically knocking down the door to the guest bedroom, and cried, "What is going on in here? I heard screaming!"

Vanille ignored the other woman, calling out gently, "Hope? Are you okay?"

"Why is Hope using your shower?" Serah demanded, her eyes widening as she assessed the situation. "And where is Fang?"

"Fang went to the market a while ago. She was feeling restless and wanted to go for a walk, so I asked her to get me some milk and hot chocolate." Vanille smiled warmly, almost forgetting about Hope. "Fang is so sweet."

"The market wouldn't be open at this time of night," Serah argued, wondering why Vanille would lie to her about Fang's whereabouts."

"Oh, no, really? I hope Fang doesn't try to find another store that's open," Vanille replied with a pout before turning back to the door. "Hope, I'm really worried about you. Are you okay in there? Please, answer me."

"I'm..." Hope shouted back, hesitation. "I'll be out in a second."

"Why is Hope using your shower?" Serah repeated as she nervously crossed the room to sit on the bed.

It was then that Serah noticed the state of disarray of the room. The bed was completely disheveled, blankets spilling onto the floor and pillows mussed up. The younger of the two Farron sisters promptly stood back up, moving away from the bed with a squeak of horror. Her mind suddenly filled with images of Hope coming upstairs to finally admit his feelings to Vanille and finding her a little more receptive than he had expected. Fang was not there, so perhaps Vanille had seized the opportunity to take advantage of the young boy who had showed her such much favor. Then afterwards he had needed to take a shower. It was all so terrible!

"Vanille!" Serah cried suddenly, "You...and Hope...I can't believe...did you really...?"

"What?" Vanille blinked innocently. "Serah, are you okay?"

"...practically a little boy..." Serah went on, covering her eyes with her hands. "How could you...? I don't even... But you and Fang..."

"Serah, are you okay?" Vanille repeated firmly, crossing the room and placing her hands on her friend's shoulders. "I dunno what you're trying to tell me, but you look really upset. Maybe you should sit down on the bed?"

"H-He...why did you...this can't be..." Serah babbled as she wondered in horror what she could tell Hope's father, who had left him there assuming that he would be under their protection and responsibility.

"Serah?" Vanille demanded, touching her forehead to check if she had a fever. "What's wrong? Whatever it is, I bet I can help. Are you sick? I take care of Fang all the time..."

Serah's cheeks turned red as she suddenly realized that Vanille was now trying to prey on her as well. She tore herself quickly out of the other woman's clutches, crying angrily, "Vanille, you're just the most terrible person!"

After speaking her part, Serah turned around and sprinted out of the room practically in tears.

Vanille watched her go in confusion, but she did not have time to wonder what that had all been about because Hope finally opened the bathroom door. Turning around to face her younger friend, Vanille gasped in horror. "H-Hope, w-what happened?"

Hope was so red that he looked like a lobster, but his face, shoulders and hair were as green as a lizard's skin.

"There was something weird on your shower head," Hope snapped angrily, hugging his dirty clothes to himself because he had changed into his pajamas after his shower. "I didn't notice until it exploded and got this green goop all over me. I tried really hard, but I couldn't scrub it off."

Vanille tilted her head in confusion. "But I don't understand. Why was there—?"

"I _hate_ Fang!" Hope shouted suddenly before he walked back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

When the younger boy returned a few minutes later, Vanille insisted, "Hope, this wasn't Fang. She wouldn't do something like this."

"Yes, she would!" Hope cried furiously. "Look what she did to Serah. Light is right about her, Vanille. She's just cruel."

"No, she isn't." Vanille pouted, hugging herself. "Hope, Fang told me that she didn't do that to Serah, and I believe her."

"Well, I know that she would do this to me because she's jealous that I spend so much time with you!" Hope snapped angrily, though his heart began to beat faster because he was on the verge of confessing his feelings. "Fang is trying to keep us apart. She thinks I like you and she hates it."

"Fang knows that we're just friends, Hope," Vanille assured him gently. "She'd never do something like this."

Hope felt his shoulders sag because he did not want to be just friends, but he felt that it was not the appropriate time to broach the subject. "I know it was Fang, Vanille. She's the only one who could have done this."

Vanille shook her head. "But Fang didn't know you were going to use our bathroom."

"You're right!" Hope's ears turned red because he was even more enraged. "That means that she was trying to do this to _you_! How dare she?! You're the only one who believes in her and—"

"_Hope!_" Vanille interrupted sharply, causing the younger boy to jump. "It _wasn't_ Fang. She would never play a prank on me, not like this."

The newly green-haired boy studied her face for a long moment before he finally nodded and cast his eyes away. "Well, whoever it was, I'm going to find out and get revenge. I'm really mad."

"Before you go, take the rest of the ointment that I made for Serah," Vanille suggested lightly. "It'll at least take the dye out of your skin. I dunno how to fix your hair. You...might just have to let it grow."

"Thanks." Hope nodded, hanging his head miserably.

Vanille helped Hope clean the ointment out of his skin before bidding him goodnight and sending him back to the basement. Although it was clear that what had happened had been a prank, Vanille was positive that Fang had not been the one to play it, because it was too cruel for the woman with whom she had spent the majority of her life. Whoever had done it, their intended victim had clearly been either Fang or, more likely, herself, since Fang's hair was too dark to be affected anyway.

Did that mean that someone was after her?

Vanille shivered and hugged herself, musing that Fang was not going to be happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Author's Note: Here is the next installment of Christmas With Fang. Things get a little dramatic in this chapter. Poor Vanille! Anyway, I hope you like it. :)

Disclaimer: I've heard that FFXIII belongs to Square Enix.

Lightning awoke so early the next morning that the sun had not risen. She tossed and turned in bed for about an hour, long enough for bright rays to peek above the horizon, before she finally gave up returning to her pleasant dreams and dragged herself out of bed. After tossing on the first clothes that she found in her closet, Lightning padded her way down the stairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

The older Farron sister paused with a start, surprised to see her younger sister sitting at the kitchen table. Although she had always known that Serah woke up early, she thought that the younger woman was pushing it a bit considering that it was her vacation.

"Hey, Serah." Lightning sighed as she walked into the room and moved toward the coffee pot on the stove.

When she received no reply, Lightning glanced over her shoulder to study her sister. She noticed with worry that the younger woman was staring into an untouched cup of tea, her eyes unfocused and a troubled look settled onto her features. Her sister looked so desolate and drained that Lightning could only think of one person who could put her in such a state. Snow had to have done something stupid, and Lightning would kill him for it.

"Serah, what's wrong with you?" Lighting demanded as she turned to face her.

The woman in question jumped and looked at her sister. "Oh, hi, Claire. I'm sorry. I didn't see you. You're up early today."

Lightning frowned and seated herself at the table. "Tell me what you're upset about."

"It's nothing," Serah whispered, averting her eyes. "I just...have a lot to think about. That's all."

Clenching her jaw and switching to her you're-in-trouble voice, Lightning grumbled, "Serah."

The younger woman began tapping her finger on the table, but eventually she could no longer hold it in. "Okay, I'll tell you. It's about Hope."

"What about Hope?" Lightning raised her brows in surprise.

"I..." Serah glanced over her shoulder nervously as though she feared that someone was listening before she leaned forwards and whispered, "I-I think Vanille did something with him last night."

"What do you mean?" Lightning blinked cluelessly. "Did she play a prank like Fang? She looks so innocent, but I wouldn't put it past anyone who spends so much time with that little—"

"N-Not like that," Serah interrupted, taking a deep breath. "I think she...took advantage of him." When Lightning stared at her, she added, "Physically."

Lightning furrowed her brows and shook her head. "That doesn't make sense."

"Yes, it _does_," Serah cried desperately, clenching her fists. "Claire, it was terrible. I went into Vanille's room last night because I heard Hope yell and the bed was messy and the shower was running. It was horrible. Vanille kept asking him if he was okay, but he wouldn't answer her because he was so upset."

With a skeptical look, Lightning asked, "What exactly did you see?"

"The bed was messy. Half the covers had been thrown onto the floor, and Vanille was standing in front of the bathroom door. She was knocking and asking Hope if he was okay, but he didn't want her to come into the bathroom." Serah pouted sadly. "He sounded really afraid, Claire."

"Why was he using her shower?" Lightning asked with pursed lips.

"I don't know," Serah cried angrily. "Probably to wash away the shame of what had happened! Why he was in the shower is not the point."

"So, when you asked Vanille about it, what did she say?" Lightning asked calmly.

Serah rolled her eyes. "She said that he was using it because Sazh was giving Dajh a bath and Hope wanted to get ready for bed, but why would he go all the way up to the attic? There are two more bathrooms with showers on the second floor."

Lightning stared into her sister's eyes for a long moment before asking seriously, "Fang didn't get her hands on your tea, did she? She could have put something in it..."

Serah looked confused. "What? Why?"

"You just sound very paranoid." Lightning shook her head. "Vanille never showed any interest in Hope, and I don't think she would betray Fang."

"That's what I would have thought, too," Serah murmured with a frown. "But now I think that Fang left so that the two of them would have time..."

Lightning balked. "Fang would not give Vanille permission to cheat on her, Serah, especially with a teenager."

"I don't agree with you. I think that Fang would do anything to make Vanille happy," Serah replied stubbornly, crossing her arms. "Vanille told me that Fang went out to get her hot chocolate because she couldn't sleep, but who would walk into town for hot chocolate at that time of night? There are no stores open."

"Vanille probably was lying to cover for Fang, who was probably playing more pranks, but that doesn't mean anything happened between Vanille and Hope." Lightning shivered, sickened by the suggestion that something could have occurred. "As much as Fang says that Vanille isn't as innocent as she looks, I really do think that she doesn't know how Hope feels about her."

"Well, I hope you're right," Serah replied sourly, "because Hope was in that bathroom using her shower. I know what I saw, Claire, and I thought that you would care more about this."

Lightning pursed her lips, annoyed by that accusation, and immediately stood up to leave the room without another word to her sister.

Serah sighed, knowing that she had upset Lightning but unable to think of any remedy. She knew what had happened and she refused to doubt herself. Vanille had preyed on Hope, knowing that he had a crush on her, and Serah was determined to hold her responsible for what she had done.

Xxx

Serah crept down the basement stairs, calling out gently, "Hope?"

The teenage boy lifted his head drearily and blinked up at her. "What?"

"I want to talk to you about something, Hope," Serah replied with a faint smile. "I know it's early, but it has to be when no one else is around. Will you please come with me?"

At first, Hope was annoyed, but then he realized that Serah was a very smart and sensible woman who would not wake him up unless she had something important to tell him, so he dragged himself out of his warm covers and followed her up the stairs. Serah led him into an office on the first floor, which was so tiny that Hope felt cramped when she closed the door.

"Please, take a seat, Hope." Serah motioned to the couch.

Hope nodded and plopped down, but he began to feel uncomfortable when Serah took a seat beside him and seemed to struggle to begin speaking. He grew even more upset as she stuttered, because he came to believe that something might have happened to his father.

"Hope," Serah finally began, awkwardly clutching at the collar of her turtleneck. "I have to talk to you about something very important and very private."

Hope raised his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It's something that I know will be really difficult for both of us to talk about," Serah explained as she shifted uncomfortably. Then she reminded herself that as a teacher there was a chance that she would have to have the same discussion with one of her students someday. "Hope, you're a growing young boy, and you're very handsome."

Blinking, Hope ran his fingers nervously through his dyed-green hair. "Um, thanks..."

"I know that you must have urges," Serah squeaked awkwardly, glancing sidelong at him.

Hope blushed darkly. "W-What do you mean?"

"Urges are difficult to control," Serah added, "even I know that."

Hope's eyes widened with horror and he shook his head. "Um, S-Serah, my dad actually already gave me the talk about husband-wife kind of stuff, so I really don't think you need to..."

"Did your father tell you how hard it is to control your urges?" Serah asked as she scooted closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hope, I just wanted to tell you that nothing that happened was your fault. You're such a good boy."

He flushed even more darkly as he realized that she must be talking about the day when Vanille had discovered what he was doing in the bathroom. "This is about when Vanille—?"

"Yes," Serah replied firmly, frowning sympathetically. "Hope, nothing that happened was your fault. It was completely Vanille's fault."

"It was?" Hope tilted his head curiously. "I mean, she _was_ practically naked, but—"

"I knew it!" Serah squeezed his hand to comfort him. "Hope, you are _so_ young."

"Yeah, and she came in the bathroom on her own. That wasn't my fault. I told her not to open the door, but she did anyway," Hope added, frowning miserably. "I wish she hadn't."

"Oh, Hope..." Serah looked as though she might cry as she scooted closer and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "You're such a brave boy."

Hope flushed and felt very confused. "I-I guess..."

"I'm going to help you, Hope." Serah looked into his eyes. "What men and women do together isn't wrong if they are in love, but it _is_ wrong when one person forces the other person."

"Um, okay." Hope thought that was a little random but he did not want to make Serah think that he disagreed with her.

Serah could tell that the younger boy was growing uncomfortable, and she knew that he had already been through enough, so she pulled away from him. "You can go back to sleep if you want, but everything is going to be okay. I promise."

"Okay. Thanks, I guess." Hope gave her a strange look and stood up.

After returning to bed, Hope had a dream that left him in need of yet another cold shower.

xxx

Vanille awoke with a pleasant sigh and glanced out the window. Her eyes swept across the snowy world below, and an enchanted smile grew across her features. She bit her lip, deciding that she would wake Fang and ask her if she wanted to go for a walk outside, but she caught a look at the clock as she was turning over and noticed how late it was. It was very unusual for Fang to sleep in so late, but Vanille was pleased that her partner still lay with her because her most cherished moments were when they cuddled together, Fang's arms wrapped around her waist.

Grinning widely, Vanille snuggled into Fang's arms and smiled lovingly up at her. Kissing her cheek, she chirped, "Wake up, Fang! It's morning!"

Fang blinked awake and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Vanille pouted.

"I dunno. I feel strange." Fang tried to clear her throat and her eyes began to water. "Oh, bugger."

"What?" Vanille scooted closer, kissing her shoulder. "Are you okay, Fang?"

"I think I'm sick." Fang narrowed her eyes. "You _had_ to have hot chocolate."

"You said you wanted to go for a walk," Vanille cried, pouting sadly. "Do you really think you're sick? Maybe you're just tired 'cause you were up late."

"I'm all stuffed up," Fang explained with a sigh. "I hate being sick. You can't do anything fun."

"Oh, this is all my fault," Vanille cried sadly. Lowering her eyes in shame, she exclaimed, "I shouldn't have let you go out last night. It was way too cold."

"Exactly," Fang agreed with a gleeful look.

"Fang!" Vanille looked like she might cry. "I'm really sorry."

The older of the two women cracked a smile and ran her fingers across Vanille's cheek. "It's not so bad. I'll forgive you if you take care of me."

"Of course, I will." Vanille sat up attentively. "Do you want anything?"

"Well, my throat _does_ really hurt." Fang shifted uncomfortably, groaning. "I can hardly swallow."

"I bet tea will make you feel better. I'll go make you some now," Vanille replied promptly before she slipped out of bed and raced to the door.

"Hey, Vanille," Fang called out suddenly.

"Yeah?" Vanille spun around to look at her, her hand poised on the doorknob.

Fang smirked at her. "Might wanna consider some pants."

Vanille looked down at herself and giggled in surprise. "Oops. You're right."

Laughing as she snuggled back into the covers, Fang mumbled, "Where would you be without me?"

"I dunno." Vanille grinned and skipped across the room to kiss Fang's forehead. "But wherever I was, I wouldn't like it if you weren't there with me."

A warm smile crossed Fang's features.

"I'll be back soon," Vanille told her gently.

xxx

Lightning was on her way up the stairs when she heard boisterous laughter from the living room. With narrowed eyes, she decided to check it out and make sure that no one was horsing around or putting her house in danger of any more damage. Peeking down the stairs into the family room, she was surprised to see Hope sitting on a couch with Sazh and Snow. Dajh was nowhere to be seen, but more importantly, Hope's hair was green, which meant that he had actually been using Vanille's shower.

It also meant that yet another one of Lightning's pranks had failed.

With a roll of her eyes, she turned to go back upstairs as she thought about how attempting to trick Fang was apparently pointless. However, she paused when she overheard what Hope was telling the others.

"Okay, so then she says 'I've wanted you since we met.'" Hope smiled proudly.

Snow burst out laughing, and Sazh clapped his hand on Hope's shoulders and teased, "Who would've thought you could be such a lady's man?"

"What was she wearing?" Snow asked with an amused look.

"Practically nothing." Hope's face was flushed. "It was just this really thin towel—practically see-through—and she was giving me this really...sexy look."

"I'm not sure I wanna imagine that," Sazh replied with a wry chuckle. "It'd be too hard to imagine a sexy look on that innocent face anyway."

"I know, but that's the way that she was looking at me," Hope insisted with a nervous smile. "Then she just dropped her towel."

Lightning narrowed her eyes and considered marching into the room right at that moment and demanding to know why both men were encouraging them and why they looked like they were trying to imagine his dream for themselves. Hope was only a fourteen-year-old boy who had no business thinking about such things as far as Lightning was concerned, and Snow was supposed to be marrying her sister, so he should not be imagining anyone else.

"Anyway, I couldn't stop staring at her, and she was laughing because she could tell I had never seen a woman naked before." Hope shifted uncomfortably, his face a dark crimson. "Then we just kind of..._did it_."

Snow laughed again and Sazh whistled.

"Is that normal?" Hope frowned faintly. "I feel kind of disgusting now."

Lightning furrowed her brows, trying to comprehend what she was hearing. By the sounds of it, there might be some truth to what Serah had said after all, but that did not make any sense.

"It's completely normal, Hope," Snow assured him enthusiastically. Slapping the younger boy on the back, he added, "Welcome to the world of manhood."

Lightning's eyes widened angrily, because Snow's statement implied that he approved of whatever had happened between Hope and this mysterious girl. How could he approve of a child _doing it_ with anyone? Pursing her lips, she decided that Snow was not allowed to marry her little sister after all.

"Then she kept saying it was okay because we really loved each other." Hope lowered his eyes miserably. "I wish Vanille really did love me."

Fire practically shot out of Lightning's ears as she heard those words, because she had never been angrier in her life. No matter what she had heard, nothing else could have convinced her that Vanille would actually do anything with Hope, but now she knew for sure that the innocence was an act. She could not believe that Vanille would betray Fang, especially with someone so young!

Without another thought, Lightning stormed up the stairs.

After Lightning had already disappeared, Snow rustled Hope's hair and sighed, "That's the nature of dreams, buddy. Don't worry though. Someday you'll meet the perfect girl, and then you'll get married and be together forever like me and Serah."

"I know." Hope smiled faintly. "I know I only had the dream in the first place because Serah gave me that weird talk this morning about how people should only do it when they're in love and then I fell back asleep afterwards. I still don't know what she was talking about."

"I'll have to ask her about it," Snow replied with a chuckle. "Sometimes girls can be really confusing, right Sazh?"

Nodding knowingly, the older man exclaimed, "I've got a few stories for you boys."

xxx

Lightning stormed up the stairs, her feet smashing into the floor so hard that the house practically shook. When she reached the top of the attic stairs, she might have stopped to think about what she wanted to do if she did not see Vanille coming out of the door that led to the crime scene right at that moment. Seeing the other woman with such an innocent look on her face, she saw red, and it took all of her strength to keep from pouncing on her.

Vanille looked up and jumped back in surprise before laughing nervously. "You scared me, Lightning. I didn't know you were there."

Her eyes narrowed unsympathetically. "What happened in your room last night, Vanille?"

"What?" Vanille blinked innocently. "What're you talking about?"

"Was Hope in your room last night, yes or no?" Lightning growled.

"Yes, he was." Vanille furrowed her brows with worry. "Are you looking for him? I can help if you want. The last time I saw him, he was—"

"I _know_ where he is," Lightning interrupted sharply, clenching her fist as she tried to remain calm. "Why was Hope in your room last night?"

"He needed the shower because Sazh was giving Dajh a bath," Vanille explained with a nervous frown. "Is everything okay, Lightning? You're scaring me."

The ex-soldier gritted her teeth and stepped closer. "What else happened in your room last night? What happened before Hope took the shower?"

Vanille's eyes swam with confusion. "Fang went for a walk because she was restless, so I asked her to get me some hot chocolate. Then while she was gone, I started making a bracelet because I was bored. Hope came up while I was making the bracelet and asked to use the shower, since Sazh was using the other bathroom."

"Is that all?" Lightning took another intimidating step toward her.

Vanille stepped backwards and felt her back touch the wall. Shifting nervously, she demanded, "What's going on?"

"I think you know what's going on!" Lightning cried angrily, losing it as she grabbed Vanille by the collar of her shirt and pushed against her.

Vanille shrieked in surprise.

"I'm so_ sick_ of all of this!" Lightning shouted angrily. "First, I have to put up with Fang tearing my house apart, and now I have to deal with _this_?! I knew you weren't as innocent as you looked, Vanille, but I didn't know you were a pervert!"

"What?" Vanille cried in desperate confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You _know_ what I'm talking about," Lightning snapped, shaking her.

"No, I don't! I have no idea what you're even saying." Vanille closed her eyes and made one failed attempt to fight out of Lighting's grasp.

"Stop lying!" Lightning shouted.

"Let go of me!" Vanille cried, adding loudly, "Fang!"

The door to the guest room suddenly flew open. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Lightning did not particularly want to fight Fang, because she was afraid that she would just kill the dark-haired Gran Pulsian at that point, so she released Vanille and took a step backwards. Looking to Fang, she growled, "You two have overstayed your welcome. I'm going downstairs. I want you out of here before lunch."

Fang narrowed her eyes and took a step out of the room. "Light, I'm sick and now I'm in a very bad mood, so explain what the hell just happened. I get why you'd throw me out, but what'd Vanille ever do to you?"

"She didn't do anything to me." Lightning cried angrily, "But after what she did to Hope, you're lucky I don't kill her."

"Look, I didn't think you'd get so sensitive about this," Fang lectured, crossing her arms. "It's not her fault. I mean, the kid's got a crush on her. What's she supposed to do about it? He'll get over it."

"He does _not_ have a crush on me, Fang," Vanille interrupted hastily. "He's just my friend."

"Oh, drop the innocent act," Lightning snapped as she stepped forwards, her fists clenched.

"Careful, Light. You don't wanna go near her," Fang exclaimed humorlessly, her eyes narrowed and her jaw set. "I'm still waiting for an explanation of what the hell is going on here."

The ex-soldier glared at the Gran Pulsian woman. "Vanille took advantage of Hope last night. Serah practically caught them in the act, and Hope was explaining what happened to Snow and Sazh downstairs."

Fang stared blankly at Lighting for a moment before she began looking around the hallway in confusion and squinting her eyes. Then she began snapping her fingers in front of her own face.

"Fang, are you okay?" Vanille asked with wide eyes.

"Snap out of it Fang," the dark-haired woman told herself, ignoring the perplexed looks of her companions. "Come on, wake up."

"Have you lost your mind?!" Lightning snapped angrily. "This is _not_ a dream!"

"Okay." Fang began massaging one her temples. "You're trying to tell me that we're actually having this conversation?"

Lightning clenched her teeth.

Pointedly, Fang asked, "You seriously think Vanille had sex with Hope?"

"What?!" Vanille gasped in horror, her face turning completely red.

"Glad you understand now," Fang mumbled before rolling her eyes. "Congrats, Light, this is the closest you've gotten yet to actually playing a prank on me. I don't get it though. Are you trying to make me mad at her? You don't really think you can convince me that she slept with _Hope_?"

"It's not a prank," Lightning snapped angrily. "I'm serious, and you two need to leave."

"You're serious?" Fang stared at her.

"But you _can't_ be serious," Vanille whined, hugging herself dramatically. "Why would anyone think that I would...do that with Hope? I don't understand."

"He sounded pretty confident downstairs. I've never heard him talk about anything like that before," Lightning explained angrily. "And then there's what Serah told me."

"You're missing the part where Vanille doesn't like boys, Light, least of all little ones," Fang interrupted with a somewhat bemused look.

"Prove it," Lightning growled.

Fang arched a brow playfully. "Well, I would, but I don't wanna get her sick."

"You can say that, but there's no way to prove that nothing happened," Lightning replied irritably.

"Don't I get to defend myself?" Vanille interrupted with a pout. "I would never do something with Hope, and even if I did like boys, I would never betray Fang."

"Oh, it's Fang you're worried about?" Lightning narrowed her eyes. "You don't care that Hope's underage?"

"We come from a village where people got married anywhere between fourteen and twenty. Hope's an adult by our standards, not that it matters since nothing happened," Fang grumbled, rolling her eyes. "We can settle this right now."

Fang immediately turned and walked past them down the stairs.

"Where're you going, Fang?" Vanille asked as she hurried after her.

The dark-haired woman gave no answer as she walked down the stairs grumbling to herself about how she should not have to deal with such nonsense when she was sick. Then she mused that she had most likely brought it upon herself by accruing so much bad karma with her pranks, but she was still a bit annoyed no matter who or what was responsible.

When they reached the living room, Fang was pleased to see that Snow, Hope, Sazh, and Serah were all present and Dajh was not.

Everyone seemed to shift uncomfortably as she and Vanille entered the room, and Serah even glared as they approached, so Fang decided to be as blunt as possible no matter what anyone might think or feel. After all, she wanted the matter settled as quickly as possible.

"What's going on?" Snow asked suddenly, noticing the way that everyone had tensed. A glance at Sazh and Hope proved that the two of them were confused as well.

"I'm gonna make this real simple for everyone since I'm sick and not in a good mood," Fang announced, placing her hands on her hips. "Hope, Serah's got Light convinced that you and Vanille did the nasty last night while I was gone and Light's all worked up about it, so I'd like you to let everyone know that that definitely didn't happen so I can go back to sleep."

Hope's eyes widened in horror. "W-W-What?"

"It's okay, Hope." Serah scooted closer and placed her hand on her shoulder. "You can tell everyone what you told me. Vanille can't hurt you now."

"What are you talking about?" Hope gasped.

"You said that Vanille was naked and she came into the bathroom even though you didn't want her to," Serah reminded him gently. "You were talking about what happened in her room last night."

"Huh?" Hope looked at her like she was crazy.

"Hope, why'd you say that?" Vanille demanded as tears filled her eyes. "I-I thought we were friends."

"Relax, Vanille," Fang murmured gently as she wrapped her arm around her shoulders and pulled the shorter girl to her side. "I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding."

"I wasn't talking about last night," Hope insisted, lowering his eyes awkwardly. "I was talking about the time when Vanille caught me..._you know_ in the bathroom in the basement."

"What?" Serah flushed darkly. "You mean, nothing happened last night?"

"What were you telling Snow and Sazh earlier today?" Lightning demanded suddenly. "I overheard you. You went into a lot of detail about something happening between you and Vanille."

Hope shifted uncomfortably, looking as though he truly wanted to disappear. "Y-You heard that? I was, um, talking about a dream."

"And it had nothing to do with Vanille," Snow lied hastily, patting Hope on the back. "It was just a dream about one of those pop singers. I told Hope it was completely normal to have dirty dreams."

Hope could not have looked more grateful.

Lightning, for her part, glared at her younger sister. "This is ridiculous. I'm going upstairs, and no one better bother me."

"I think you could stand to apologize to Vanille," Fang growled, tightening her protective hold on the younger woman.

Lightning glared at Fang before looking to Vanille. "Sorry about this morning. I should've known better than to trust anyone else in this house to be competent."

Serah frowned, injured. "I really thought that was what happened, Claire. I was just trying to protect Hope."

"Tch. Next time get the facts straight before you say something to someone else," Lightning grumbled, crossing her arms stubbornly before she stormed up the stairs another time.

"Glad we sorted that all out." Fang smiled and Vanille. "You okay?"

Vanille nodded, hugging Fang around the waist. "If you hadn't come out of the bedroom—"

"Don't think about it." Fang squeezed Vanille's arm. "I'll never let anyone hurt you."

Vanille offered a faint smile.

"Now, I've got one more question before I go back to bed," Fang exclaimed as she raised her brows at Hope. "Why's your hair green?"

Snow, Serah, and Sazh all looked at Hope as though they had not yet noticed.

"Fang, you should really get back in bed," Vanille interrupted hastily, wanting to distract her so that she would not retaliate against whoever had most likely set up the prank in their bathroom. "I'll make you some more tea, okay?"

Fang nodded, allowing the distraction and wondering why Vanille did not want her to know the answer. "Okay. Thanks."

After Fang had already disappeared up the stairs, Hope practically whispered, "Vanille, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I really misunderstood Serah."

"It's okay, Hope. It wasn't your fault." Vanille smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry, too, Vanille." Serah furrowed her brows, looking as though she might cry. "I-I thought something was wrong."

"That's okay." Vanille lowered her eyes awkwardly. "If I had...taken advantage of Hope, telling someone would've been the right thing to do. You weren't trying to be mean."

"You're a really good person." Serah bit her lip, still feeling guilty. "You didn't deserve those accusations."

"Don't worry about it," Vanille insisted, forcing a reassuring smile before she turned toward the kitchen. "I'll see you guys later. I think I'll be taking care of Fang most of the day."

xxx

Lightning was so annoyed by the combination of her failed pranks and her sister's ridiculous accusations blowing up in her face that she decided there was only one thing to do. There was no choice but to give up on her revenge, because it seemed that she was destined not to achieve it anyway, and to direct her attention elsewhere. In order to distract herself, she decided to catch up on some housework that she had been putting off. There were several parts of the house that needed repainting, including the basement stairs, the garage door, and the hallway leading to the guest room in the attic. The basement was currently occupied and the garage door required a color of paint that she did not have, but she was pleased to tackle at least one of the three.

Deciding to avoid the others for as long as possible, Lightning sneaked down a narrow staircase at the back of the house which led to the garage, which was where she kept paint and other supplies. Sidestepping the air car, Lightning rummaged through the shelves she had recently built until she found the sealed cans of dark blue paint that she had purchased with the attic in mind.

With determination that could only be explained by her need to burn out her frustration, Lighting marched back up the stairs into the attic hallway and began painting. She did not even bother to put down a sheet or cover the doorframe to the guest bedroom, because she knew that she could be very precise. In fact, when she was upset, she was generally much more efficient and careful than ever.

So, Lightning spent the next several hours painting the walls without mishap, and when she was finally finished, she stepped back to survey her work with a smile of triumph.

As she moved backwards, her foot caught on the paint can that she had left on the floor and she tripped, toppling to the ground with the half-empty can of paint. A swift curse escaped her lips as the paint immediately spread all over the floor and stained her clothes. Growling, since she had ruined one of her favorite outfits, Lightning immediately stomped down the stairs toward her bedroom so that she could change into something else.

xxx

Vanille walked up the stairs to the attic balancing a bowl of boiling hot soup in her hands. It was a bit too hot for Fang to eat right away, especially since Vanille could not even carry it without wrapping a towel around the bowl, but she had heard once that breathing in the steam of hot soup could clear the sinuses, so she had thought that it would be fine for Fang to do that until the soup was cool enough to eat.

Every step up the stairs was placed carefully, because she did not want to spill any of the soup on the floor for fear of upsetting Lightning and she also did not want to burn herself. So, when she reached the top of the stairs without incident, Vanille exhaled with relief. No sooner had she taken a step forwards did she promptly slip on the blue paint covering the floor and fall backwards. Vanille's back slapped against the floor and she grunted in pain, but that was nothing compared to the pained scream she elicited when the boiling hot soup poured onto her arm.

Fang burst out of the guest room with a fierce look on her features, for she was ever prepared to protect the woman that she loved, but she did not even have a chance to ask what was wrong as her own feet slipped out from underneath her and she landed on her face. With no heed to her own bruised arms or the paint all over the front side of her, Fang immediately crawled to Vanille's side.

"What happened?" Fang demanded nervously as her eyes swept over Vanille's form.

Forcing a smile in spite of the pained tears in her eyes, Vanille replied gently, "I'm all right, Fang. I just spilled your soup on myself."

Fang studied her worriedly before she attempted to lighten the mood, joking, "Were you trying to kill me? Why'd you make the soup so hot?"

Vanille blushed. "I would've let it cool. There was no ice in the freezer and the sink's still broken. The bowl couldn't fit under the faucet in the bathroom, so there was no way to cool it down."

Fang smiled sympathetically, taking Vanille by the shoulders and helping her to sit up. "Come on. We'd better run some cool water on this."

"It hurts really badly, Fang," Vanille murmured, biting her lip nervously. "Do they have medicine men here?"

"I dunno." Fang frowned thoughtfully. "Was it really that hot?"

Vanille nodded solemnly.

"Is everyone okay up there?" Serah suddenly shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "I thought I heard a scream..."

"Vanille's slipped on some paint and burned herself," Fang replied as she slowly helped Vanille stand up. "Who left this mess on the floor anyway?"

Serah climbed up the stairs and stopped cautiously, her eyes widening. "I-I don't know. Vanille, are you okay? Your arm is already starting to blister."

"I think it'll be okay," Vanille assured her gently. "It hurts, but we're gonna put some cold water on it."

"Do you know any quick herbal remedies? If you give me the ingredients, I could make it," Serah offered.

"You'd have to go shopping in a different season with all the stuff we'd need." Fang wrapped her arm around Vanille's waist to help her walk. "Can't you just go to the market and buy something for burns? There's gotta be an ointment or something."

"Of course. That's a great idea." Enthusiastically, Serah added, "I'll be back soon, I swear."

Fang nodded, smiling appreciatively, before she helped Vanille into the bathroom. "We'll take care of this, and then we're going back to bed where nothing can hurt you."

"It's been a really scary day," Vanille joked lightheartedly, trying to forget her pain.

Fang raised her brow playfully. "I know. I'll have to keep a closer eye on you. You keep making me worry."

"Sorry, Fang," Vanille chirped adorably.

Fang pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. "Just don't get hurt anymore, okay?"

Vanille smiled sheepishly, resting her head against her shoulder. "I'll try my best!"

xxx

Lightning changed her clothes as quickly as she could and walked to the basement to gather up the cleaning supplies before she returned to the attic. When she reached the top of the stairs, she dropped the mop and pail on the floor, her eyes wide.

The paint had spread all over the floor, and blue footprints and handprints littered the doorframe and door leading into the guest room. Since the door had been left open, Lightning could see that a trail of blue footprints and smudges also led to the guest bathroom. The obvious conclusion was that Fang and Vanille had both slipped in the paint and then decided to wash themselves.

With a sigh of defeat, Lighting decided that she was being punished for sinking to Fang's level with so many pranks. It had been immature and apparently futile to attempt to trick the other woman, so there was nothing else to do except clean up the attic.

Lightning was just picking up the mop when she suddenly heard giggles drifting out of the bathroom. She immediately began to clean faster, not wanting to hear whatever might be going on on the other side of the bathroom door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Author's Note: Hi, everyone! Here is the seventh installment of Christmas with Fang. This is the second to last installment, so the next chapter I post will be the last one. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and also to everyone who has reviewed. It makes me really happy to know that so many people like my stories. :D I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFXIII or any of the characters in the game, but I use the characters with the utmost respect.

Serah hummed pleasantly to herself as she pushed open the door to Lightning's bathroom and peeked inside to make sure that her sister was not there. Lightning had stopped leaving her room very much over the past two days, so Serah thought that she would help her by cleaning up different parts of the house. She had already cleaned the entire downstairs, the basement, and all of the bathrooms in the house besides her older sister's and the bathroom in the attic, which she had decided she would not go near until Fang was no longer sick.

Walking into Lightning's bathroom, Serah flicked on the lights and reached behind her to tug a bucket of cleaning supplies into the room. She started with the shower, wiping down the walls with a cleaning product that smelled fresh and pleasant. Then she cleaned the toilet and wiped down the counter and the mirror. On a whim, she opened the medicine cabinet to make sure that her sister did not have any empty bottles of which she could dispose. She raised her brows, chuckling to herself, as she realized that Lightning actually used more hair product than she did.

Serah took all the bottles out of the medicine cabinet and reorganized them for her sister, meticulously placing each one in the proper spot so that there was as much free space as possible. When she was just about to close the cabinet and clean the floor, one of the pill bottles, which had been balanced precariously on the edge of the shelf, fell out. It ricocheted off of the counter before rolling behind the toilet.

"At least I already cleaned the toilet," Serah mumbled to herself as she crouched down, leaning against the seat and grasping for the bottle. "Stupid pills."

While standing up, Serah glanced at the bottle to see what she had knelt against the toilet to retrieve and she nearly dropped it again. The medication, which she had coincidentally read about in an article less than two weeks ago, was most commonly prescribed for Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

"The doctor must have given Claire someone else's medication," Serah mused, reflexively turning over the bottle to read the label.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that it actually had been prescribed to her older sister. Even worse than that, the bottle was half empty, which meant that Lightning had actually been taking the drugs. Serah glanced into the trashcan and noticed that there was another pill bottle half buried under a pile of tissues. Her curiosity got the best of her and she dug out the empty pill bottle with a clean tissue, reading it with a look of shock.

"Claire, why didn't you ever tell me?" Serah whispered, tears filling her eyes.

She could not believe that her older sister had had to carry such a burden all on her own. What must it be like inside Lightning's head? Was she constantly worried that her other personalities might take over and harm or trick the people that she cared about? Did she sometimes switch personalities while in their presence?

"Oh my!" Serah suddenly squeaked. "Are Claire and Lightning even the same person? No wonder she hates when we call her by her real name!"

Serah placed the pill bottle on the counter and covered her face with her hands, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm down. She did not want to judge her sister or treat her any differently, but she felt as though her entire life was a lie. How had Lightning kept the secret for so long? How long had she even kept it? Even more frightening, how many personalities did she have? Did she sometimes do things that she could not remember?

A lightbulb suddenly went off over Serah's head and she felt extremely guilty. So many strange things had been happening in the house lately, and Fang had been blamed for every single one of them in spite of the fact that both she and Vanille had sworn that she did not play any pranks. What if she really was innocent? What if Lightning or Claire or another personality that Serah did not know about had committed all of those acts and the real Claire/Lightning/whoever had blamed Fang because she did not know any better?

Serah covered her mouth to stifle a gasp of anguish as she thought about her poor sister. She loved Claire so much and she wanted to help her, but was there anything she could do?

Forgetting the cleaning supplies in the bathroom, Serah immediately raced down the stairs in search of Snow. He would know what to do.

After searching for a long time, Serah finally tracked down Snow, who was attempting to fix one of the air cars in the garage. She convinced him to come into the kitchen with her and made sure that no one else was nearby before tugging him toward the sink.

"Serah, what's wrong?" Snow placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hey, what's going on?" Snow tugged her into his arms, running his fingers up and down her back as she cuddled against him. "Did something happen?"

"I-I'm okay."

"Did Fang play another prank on you?" Snow demanded suddenly, for he was determined to make Fang answer for it if she had.

"N-No, it's nothing like that." Serah frowned. "I wonder if Fang actually played any pranks at all except for the one that she admitted to."

"What do you mean?" Snow's eyebrows shot up. "Fang played a _lot_ of pranks while we were all traveling together."

"I know. Claire told me that, but still..." Serah bit her lip and looked up at him. "Snow, I found something in Claire's bathroom."

Snow tried to think of what she could have found that would upset her so much. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I feel so guilty for not knowing," Serah whispered.

Eyes widening, Snow gasped, "Is Claire pregnant?!"

"What?" Serah gasped, looking at him. "Has Claire been seeing someone?"

"I don't know." Snow shrugged. "That's all I could think of."

"Well, it's not that. Do you promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Of course. Serah, everything we talk about is completely private." He smiled warmly. "I would never, ever betray or hurt you. We're getting married."

Serah smiled faintly, lowering her eyes, and told Snow about the medication she had found. "At first, I thought they belonged to someone else, but they were prescribed to her."

"Really? Light seemed fine when we were traveling together." Snow frowned thoughtfully. "Could this be a recent thing?"

"I don't know, but if it is then I'm responsible!" Serah gasped tearfully.

"Hey, no you're not." Snow placed his hands on either side of her face and massaged her cheeks with his thumbs. "Serah, you didn't do anything. You love your sister, and she loves you."

"But everything happened because of me," Serah cried. "If I hadn't become a l'Cie..."

"You didn't choose that," Snow assured her, hugging her tightly to himself.

Serah nodded into his shoulder, wiping her tears away. "I'm so worried about her."

There was suddenly a faint thud in the family room, causing Serah to pull back with wide eyes. "What was that? Was someone listening?"

"I'll find out," Snow promised before racing out of the room. A second later he poked his head back into the kitchen. "There's no one here."

Serah pouted nervously, knowing Claire would never forgive her if her secret was revealed.

"I have to go back upstairs and clean up so Claire doesn't know that I know," Serah exclaimed suddenly. "I'll be back."

"Do you want help?" Snow asked gently.

"No, but thank you." Serah crossed the room to peck his cheek. "We have to pretend that everything is normal, so just go back and finish working on the air cars. I'll take care of the rest."

"Are you sure?" Snow touched her shoulder. "If you need me…"

"I'm okay, I promise." Serah placed her hand on top of his. "It's Claire that I'm worried about."

Xxx

Vanille opened the door to the attic and slipped quietly inside before shutting it gently behind her and sneaking to her bed. She had intended to get Fang some tea before the other woman awoke, since she knew that she was still sick and she wanted to take care of her so that she would be better by Christmas Eve in three days. Unfortunately, she had happened upon a rather private conversation that caused her to scurry back up the stairs.

What she had heard had left her shocked, curious and desiring more information, but she did not want to ask Serah. Could it actually be true that Lightning had some kind of...disorder? Vanille was not even sure what a disorder really meant, but she had heard something about multiple personalities.

As Vanille climbed back into bed, Fang stirred and glanced sleepily at her. "What're you doing up so early in the morning?"

"It's almost eleven," Vanille replied with an unintentionally troubled smile. "It's not early."

"What's wrong?" Fang asked immediately.

"Nothing." Vanille shook her head. "You rest. I want you to get better."

"I'd rest a lot better if I had a little tea," Fang suggested with a playful grin.

"Oh." Vanille lowered her eyes and bit her lip nervously. "I can get you some in a little while."

Fang eyed her suspiciously. "All right, what's going on? Did something happen downstairs? If anyone's accused you of anything—"

"No, it's not like that. It's really not a big deal."

"I'm not buying that, and since you got me sick, I think you should tell me the truth," Fang replied firmly, though a smile lingered beneath her frown. "Did you do something bad?"

"I guess I can tell you, but you've gotta promise not to tell anyone, Fang. It's really serious."

"Did something happen?" Fang raised her brows.

"I didn't hear the whole conversation, but I think Lighting might be sick." Vanille furrowed her brows with worry. "Serah found some medicine in her bathroom. It was something for a _disorder_. I think Serah said multiple personalities. She was really upset, especially since Lightning never told her.

Fang pursed her lips, remaining silent.

"Fang?" Vanille tilted her head curiously. "What're you thinking?"

Averting her eyes, Fang replied sheepishly, "I'm thinking you're gonna be mad at me."

Vanille's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, Fang, you didn't."

"I forgot about that prank," Fang insisted, biting her lip. "I set it up ages ago before you asked me to stop. I figured someone would find them eventually, but then I forgot to take 'em away."

"Oh, Fang..." Vanille shook her head with disapproval. "What do we do? If we tell everyone, Lighting'll throw us out for sure. Why'd you have to do all this? They'll never invite us back."

With an apologetic look, Fang reached out to touch her face. "I'm sorry, Vanille. I got carried away. You know me. I wouldn't know I was going too far if the Maker told me so."

"But that's why you should listen to _me_," Vanille whined, crawling across the bed and snuggling into her arms. "That's why you should always tell about your pranks."

"I promised I'd stop," Fang protested innocently. "There won't be any more pranks."

Vanille pulled back to look at her, eyes narrowed playfully. "For now."

Fang laughed. "You know me too well, don't you?"

"I hope so." Vanille rested against her, burying her face in Fang's neck. "What if Lightning kills you?"

"I'm definitely stronger than her," Fang replied dismissively, wrapping her arms around Vanille's waist. "Anyway, how long d'you think we have to wait before you make that tea?"

Vanille pulled back to narrow her eyes.

"What?" Fang pouted. "My throat's really dry."

"I dunno," Vanille replied as she snuggled against her again. "Maybe an hour or so. They didn't catch me, but they knew someone was there. If I go back down, they'll know I'm the only one awake."

"Is it really so bad if you know? With the way these people talk, everyone'll know by the end of the day anyway."

"That means Lightning'll know too, Fang." Vanille sighed nervously. "She'll know it was you."

"It's not like she's exactly innocent. She played pranks, too. Remember what happened to Serah? And what about dying Hope's hair green? It wasn't me, and I doubt he'd do it to himself just to get me in trouble. Who do you think it was?"

"Lightning?" Vanille gasped. "She blamed all those things on you!"

"I know." Fang ran her fingers through her hair. "Now, since I can't have tea, I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay." Vanille kissed her cheek. "I'll wake you up when I get the tea."

"What're you gonna do until then?" Fang asked with a faint grin.

"I'm going back to sleep, too," Vanille proclaimed, cuddling against her.

"Sounds good to me." Fang nuzzled against her, kissing her forehead.

xxx

Fang's prediction had been slightly incorrect. Everyone knew about Lightning's predicament by lunch time. In fact, the only person who did not know by midday was Lightning, who was still holed up in her room. Hope had walked into the kitchen for a glass while Serah and Snow were still talking, and even though he tried to pretend that they had stopped talking quickly enough, it was clear from his wide-eyed expression that he had heard the most important details. Serah promptly swore Hope to secrecy, but Hope still accidentally let the story slip to Sazh when he returned to the basement for a morning shower. Dajh seemed to be the only one who did not really understand what was happening or think it was a big deal.

Within half an hour, Sazh was sitting at the kitchen table discussing the situation with Serah and Snow. He was a very knowledgeable man, so he was only concerned for Lightning's health and the safety of everyone in the house. After all, if one of Lighting's personalities was rampantly playing rather nasty pranks and then framing Fang, then she might not be properly taking her medication.

"I think the best thing to do is talk to Lightning about this," Sazh explained.

Serah shook her head, protesting, "But what if—"

"Hear me out first, Serah," Sazh interrupted. "You're gonna say that Lightning's your sister and you don't wanna make her feel bad. However, we all need to make sure we're safe. If Lightning doesn't realize that her medication isn't working, then she isn't even aware of what's happening. She needs to see her doctor immediately."

"It just seems like a cruel thing to bring up..." Serah bit her lip. "Should I talk to her, Snow?"

"I don't think it should be anyone but you," Snow replied with a sad look. "Sazh is right. I know it seems cruel, but Claire could be in trouble. We need to help and support her."

Serah nodded, looking away. "I guess you're right, but we could at least wait until the afternoon. We usually all go outside, so I'll just talk to her then."

"That's fine." Sazh frowned worriedly as he stared into his coffee cup. "I really didn't expect this. I traveled with Lightning for a long time and she seemed completely fine."

"I lived with Claire my whole life and she seemed completely fine," Serah added meekly. "I just wish she would have told me about this. I could have helped. I could have—"

"You know how Claire is, Serah," Snow murmured reassuringly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "She would never admit that she needed someone's help."

"I know, but I—"

A noise in the hallway silenced Serah and the three of them stared at the entrance to the kitchen with wide eyes. Lightning promptly walked through the door, and for one horrible moment, everyone thought that she must have heard them. Even Sazh and Snow looked mildly frightened about what might happen, because the look on Lightning's face was cold and irritated.

"Hi." Lightning paused, staring at the three of them with furrowed brows. "What's wrong?"

Serah looked away, her smile unconvincing. "Nothing. Why?"

"Did Fang play another prank?" Lightning studied each of their faces. "If she did, you can just tell me and I'll go kill her."

"N-No, really. Nothing's wrong." Serah stood from her seat and gathered the cups that she and Snow had been drinking as she moved toward the sink.

"Serah, the sink is still broken," Lightning warned, frowning. "Why are your hands shaking?"

"What? Oh, my hands..." Serah stared at her fingers for a moment before shrugging and plastering a grin on her face. "I don't know. I guess I drank too much coffee." A hollow laugh escaped her lips. "Anyway, I'm going to wash these cups in the bathroom."

As Serah hustled out the door, Lightning called after her, "We have a dishwasher!"

Serah pretended not to hear her and scurried away.

Lightning shrugged and pulled and apple out of the fridge before turning around to join Snow and Sazh at the table. She watched them with a frown on her face as she ate, because neither of them would look at her and they were being suspiciously silent. Eventually, she could not stand it.

"What's wrong with the two of you?" Lightning demanded, her lips pursed.

"W-What? Nothing's wrong." Snow smiled weakly at her. "What could be wrong? It's just a regular morning. Anyway, there's something I wanted to fix in the garage, so I should go."

He was out of his seat before she could protest.

"I better go downstairs and wake up Dajh. He needs to take a bath because I couldn't get him to take one last night," Sazh explained before he practically jumped out of his chair and disappeared through the doorway.

Lightning stared after the two of them, her eyes narrowed, and tried to figure out what could possibly be going on. The entire situation reeked of one of Fang's pranks, but the other woman had been bedridden for almost three days, not even coming downstairs for meals.

The ex-soldier's eyes widened as she realized that there was another alternative. If Fang was pretending to be sick, it would be easy for her to sneak around upstairs during the day and play pranks without anyone suspecting her. There was also another less likely but equally possible explanation: Vanille could be completing Fang's pranks for her while the other woman was resting in bed. It would make a lot more sense if they had been a team the entire time.

Hope suddenly walked into the kitchen, but he jumped when he spotted Lightning. Taking a step backwards, he exclaimed, "O-Oh. I didn't know anyone was in here."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"H-Huh?" Hope took another step away from her. "Oh, it's nothing. I just realized I forgot something in the kitchen."

"This _is_ the kitchen." Lightning's frustration grew. "What's going on? No one will talk to me and you're acting weird."

"W-What do you mean?" Hope laughed awkwardly. "I meant I forgot something in the basement, not the kitchen. I'll be right back."

As the teenager suddenly raced into the family room and then practically threw himself down the basement stairs, Lightning decided that she needed to know what was going on immediately. Sighing in irritation, because she was sure whatever it was would put her right over the edge, she chucked the remains of her apple into the trash can and set out in search of her sister, the easiest target for an interrogation because Serah would feel too guilty to lie.

xxx

Lightning finally found her sister meticulously rinsing out the coffee cups in the bathroom sink. She was surprised to find her that her sister was almost crying as she scrubbed the cups over and over again. A part of her wanted to leave so that she would not have to deal with whatever emotions were plaguing her younger sister, but she just had to know what was going on.

"What's wrong?" Lightning demanded suddenly, standing in the doorway.

Serah jumped, her eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, nothing. I just—I—well..."

"What is it?" Lightning's voice was even more firm. "I won't let you leave the bathroom until you tell me."

"Okay." Serah lowered her eyes. "You should sit while we talk."

Lightning raised her brows, a nervous feeling creeping within her. Could someone have died? Was Fang stuck in the guest room because she was terminally ill? "I don't need to sit."

"Okay..." With a deep breath, Serah explained, "Claire, I was cleaning your bathroom this morning..."

"I told you not to go in there," Lightning growled.

"I know, and now I think I know why." Serah sniffled. "I really didn't mean to find out. I'm so sorry."

The older of the two sisters stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"I-I found your medication," Serah whispered nervously, meeting eyes with her.

"What medication?" Lightning balked. "I don't take any."

"Claire, it's okay." Serah stepped forwards and took her hands. "I _know_. How long have you been keeping it from me? I just want to help you."

"Keeping what from you?" Lightning tore her hands away from her sister and narrowed her eyes. "What medication did you find?"

"The prescription you take for..." Serah bit her lip. "For your multiple personalities."

Lightning stared blankly at her for a moment before her face turned bright red. "I am going to _kill_ Fang!"

"No, no, no!" Serah tried to take her hands again. "Claire, I know this is hard, but I think your medication hasn't been working lately. We—_I _think that maybe you—or a different personality—was responsible for some of the strange things that have been happening. Then maybe you blamed Fang because you just don't remember."

With her fists clenched, Lightning snapped, "I am _not_ taking responsibility for all of Fang's pranks. I don't have any _disorder_, and I don't take any medication."

"Claire, please. The prescription was written out for you."

"Well, it was obviously doctored." Lightning stomped out of the bathroom, headed toward her own. "I'll prove it."

Serah sighed wearily and left the coffee mugs on the counter before hastily following her sister down the hallway. She was surprised to find that Snow was quickly on her trail and Sazh seemed to be following behind him.

"We heard yelling and got worried," Snow whispered gently as he came up beside Serah. "I didn't want you to face this alone."

With a faint smile, she whispered, "Thank you."

By the time that they had reached Lightning's bathroom, the older of the two sisters was clutching the offending pill bottle in her hands, her lips pursed. "This is obviously doctored. The pills inside are my vitamins."

Serah cleared her throat. "Claire, maybe you should rest. I can call the doctor—"

"I don't need a doctor!" Lightning turned to face them. "They don't even prescribe medication for DID. All they can do is prescribe drugs to help with the emotional problems associated with the disorder, but they don't even do that a lot because it can cause even more trauma."

Sazh raised his brows. "How do you know that?"

Lighting flushed, narrowing her eyes. "I _read_."

"About a disorder that you just happen to have medication for in your cabinet?" Snow asked gently. "Claire—"

"Don't call me that!" Lighting put the pill bottle on the counter and shoved past them out the door.

"Claire, where are you going?" Serah demanded nervously.

"I'm going to kill Fang!"

Everyone shared a nervous look before chasing her up the attic stairs.

"Claire, wait, please!" Serah shouted, catching up to her sister and taking her by the arm. "Vanille and Fang don't know about this yet. They haven't even come downstairs."

"Oh, but everyone else knows?" Lightning pursed her lips. "Fang knows all about this, since she's responsible."

"Let's just calm down," Sazh interrupted, approaching her slowly. "Lightning, I think you should leave Fang alone. She's already sick."

"I don't care! You all think I'm crazy because of her."

The guest room door suddenly opened and Vanille poked her head out. "What's going on?"

"Where's Fang?" Lightning placed her hand on the door like she would shove it open.

"She's in the bathroom," Vanille explained gently, biting her lip. "She feels really nauseous. I don't think you should come in."

"I bet she feels nauseous!"

"Claire, please. Let's just go downstairs. We can sort this out later," Serah suggested desperately.

Lightning looked into her sister's eyes and knew that she had to comply, but she definitely wanted to kill Fang. There was no doubt in her mind that the dark-haired Gran Pulsian had been responsible, and if she could do something so cruel that would make everyone in the house think that she was crazy, then she deserved the war that Lightning would declare on her.

"Fine, but those pills are not mine," Lightning snapped, crossing her arms and turning to stomp down the stairs.

"What pills?" Vanille whispered nervously.

Serah shook her head, smiling faintly. "It's nothing. I hope Fang feels better."

Vanille nodded and watched them leave before sighing miserably and closing the attic door.

Xxx

"Claire, are you sure you'll be okay?" Serah asked gently, furrowing her brows.

"Yes, I'm sure." Lightning crossed her arms irritably. "Go to your movie."

Snow lingered in the doorway, a look of concern flitting across his features. "You won't go after Fang while we're gone, will you? You know she's having a hard time right now."

"Oh, yeah." Lightning rolled her eyes. "It must be so hard being served hand and foot by your girlfriend while you're stuck in bed."

"Vanille is _not_ Fang's girlfriend," Hope protested from the couch.

Lightning rolled her eyes. "I won't go after Fang. I have better things to do than beat her up while she's sick."

"Do you promise?" Serah pouted. "I won't leave otherwise."

"I promise." With another roll of her eyes, she motioned for them to go. "Hope, Sazh, and Dajh are all here to stop me."

Sazh snorted from where he was playing a video game with his son on the other side of the room, because it was doubtful that anyone would be able to stop Lightning if she were on a true rampage.

"All right." Serah smiled faintly. "Have a good night. Can you believe tomorrow's Christmas Eve?"

"Christmas Eve!" Dajh shouted excitedly. "Is that the day we get presents, daddy?"

Sazh shook his head, patting his son's shoulder. "That's Christmas Day."

"Oh." Dajh's shoulders fell. "I thought it was tomorrow."

With a faint smile, Sazh redirected his son's attention to the game.

Meanwhile, Serah waved to her sister. "We'll be back in a few hours."

"Yeah, fine."

Lightning watched the two of them go with a sigh and shut the front door behind them. It had been a while since Snow and Serah had been able to go out on a date together, and Serah had not wanted to miss the opportunity to spend a little time alone with her fiance during the holidays. While Lightning could tell from her sister's sympathetic looks that the other girl for some reason thought that it bothered her that she was going out with her fiance, it was actually quite a good thing, because it would make her plan all the easier to employ if Snow was preoccupied for the evening.

xxx

At least half an hour after Serah and Snow had left the house, it was finally time for Lightning to implement her plan. To avoid suspicion, Lightning made sure that she spent a little time with Hope, Sazh and Dajh before she moodily proclaimed that she was going to her room. She knew that none of them would follow her because they were so absorbed in their game and everyone was so afraid of her when she was upset anyway.

Once she reached her room, Lightning sat down on her bed, picked up one of the fancy new phones that Serah had forced her to buy, and dialed a number.

"Town of Troth NORA Department. This is Officer Madeline speaking. How can I help you today?"

"This is Lighting Farron. I live—"

"Oh, everyone knows where you live, dear. You've got the newest house in this fine little town," Madeline replied cheerfully. "So, what can we do for you?"

"I have a house guest staying in my attic. Her name is Yun Fang. She seemed really nice at first, but now I'm starting to think she's really dangerous." Lightning altered her voice so that it sounded as though she was frightened. "I think she has illegal weapons up there, and she's been playing dangerous pranks. I want you to come check it out."

"I'll send an officer right away, Miss Farron. Would you like to press charges against this woman? We can remove her from your home if you would like."

"No. My sister invited her here. I just want to check if she really has illegal weapons. If she does, what would happen?"

"Well, anyone caught with illegal weapons has to pay a hefty fine," Madeline explained calmly. "Don't you worry, Miss Farron. We'll find out the truth about this woman. Expect our officers in about fifteen minutes."

"Thank you."

"No problem, dear."

Lightning hung up the phone and leaned back against her pillow with a smug look. She had no idea whether or not Fang had any illegal weapons, but either way it would be a hassle for the sick girl to entertain NORA officers as they searched through all of her and Vanille's things. Listening to Fang complain later would be hilarious, and Lightning felt certain that she had finally discovered a prank that could not go wrong. The NORA officers would come, investigate, and leave, no matter what they discovered.

Around twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and Lightning raced down the stairs.

"Are we expecting someone?" Sazh glanced up at her with a raised brow.

"Nope," Lightning replied swiftly, managing to look annoyed about the intrusion because everyone expected her to hate house guests.

Lightning pulled open the door and immediately studied the NORA officers, two middle-aged men. She had half expected Snow's friends from the original NORA group, but then she remembered that the majority of his friends had chosen to remain in Korrin because Troth was such a small, uneventful town.

"Good evening, Miss. I'm Officer Brown and this is Officer Todd." The older of the two agents held out his NORA badge. "We've come to check out your attic."

With pursed lips, Lightning made a show of taking his badge and studying it before she moved out of the way so that they could step into the house. "The attic is on the top floor. There are two doors. The first door will lead to the bedroom. I have two house guests staying there."

"All right. We'll go check it out."

As the two men immediately walked toward the stairs, Lightning glanced at the Sazh and the boys. They were still playing video games against each other and did not look like they realized who had come to the door.

With a roll of her eyes, Lightning realized that everyone was probably so used to her turning guests away that they did not even bother paying attention.

xxx

A loud knock on the attic door startled Vanille, who had been reading a book by the window while Fang dozed on the bed.

Glancing at Fang, who had not stirred, Vanille hoped nervously that it was not Lightning. She had been able to keep the other woman from seeing Fang all day, and even though Fang was mostly better, Vanille had hoped that her companion would remain in bed until tomorrow because she doubted that anyone would allow Lightning to kill Fang on Christmas Eve.

The knock sounded again, louder that time, and Vanille scurried across the room, pulling the door open a crack. Her eyes widened when it was two strange men that she had never seen before, but they did not give her time to speak.

The older of the two men held a badge out to her and she accepted it with confusion.

"Good evening, Miss." He tipped his hat. "I'm Officer Brown. This is Officer Todd. We're from NORA."

"NORA?" Vanille tilted her head curiously. "You're like protectors, right?"

"I'm sorry?" Officer Brown raised his brow.

"Well, in my village growing up, the hunters would always take care of problems if someone ever broke the rules. That's what you do, right?" Vanille smiled charmingly. "I just don't know much about NORA."

"Yes, Miss. That's exactly what we do. Can I get your name by the way?"

"Oh, I'm Dia Vanille. It's nice to met you." Vanille smiled warmly.

"I'll...take my badge back," Officer Brown murmured, sticking out his hand.

"Oh." Vanille giggled. "I thought it was for me."

"Anyway," Officer Todd cut in gently. "I'm afraid we need to search your room, Miss. We received a tip that there might be some illegal weapons in here."

"Oh, but Fang is sick..." Vanille pouted over her shoulder.

"We will be very quick," Officer Brown assured her, frowning faintly. "Please, step aside."

"O-Okay." Vanille lowered her eyes and stepped out of their way, frowning as she noticed that Fang was beginning to stir. While the men began to look through their things, Vanille crept to Fang's side and shook her shoulders gently. "Fang?"

Fang stirred and groaned sleepily, but she did not wake up.

"Fang, please wake up." Vanille shook her shoulders a little more firmly.

The dark-haired woman's eyes blinked open and for a moment she seemed confused, but then she heard the murmur of the officers talking to each other and she sat bolt upright as her arm curled protectively around Vanille's back, eyes narrowed. "What's going on here? Who are you?"

"I'll keep looking," Officer Todd mumbled.

With a nod, Officer Brown approached Fang, handed her his badge, and made the same introduction that he had made twice already. "We received a tip that Yun Fang—who I'm assuming you are—was staying in this room and might have illegal weapons."

"Really?" Fang raised her brow. "And where'd that little tip come from?"

The officer frowned uncomfortably.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's my right to know what I'm accused of and who accused me," Fang gave him a knowing look as she ran her fingers absently through Vanille's hair.

Sighing, Officer Brown explained, "The owner of the house called with some concerns."

"So, it was Lightning Farron who made the call?" Fang inquired with a charming smile.

"Yes. She did not want to press charges or have you thrown out of her house, she just wanted to know whether or not you had any illegal weapons." Officer Brown resumed looking through their closet, his brows raised with interest at some of the outfits that he found, and explained, "If you do have the weapons, you will just have to pay a fine because they are unregistered."

"How big a fine?" Fang asked interestedly.

"That depends on what kind of weapons," Officer Todd explained from the other side of the room as he looked through a chest that did not belong to them. "If you do have weapons, you will pay for each weapon."

"Well, you can look all you like, but we haven't got any weapons." Fang shrugged and leaned back against the bed frame, smiling at Vanille as she lowered her voice. "If I had to guess, I'd bet this is revenge for those pills they found. You know, Light's creative, but she really doesn't think ahead very well."

"Fang..." Vanille gave her a warning look. "You promised no more pranks."

"Who said anything about a prank?" Fang smirked faintly. "I'm just concerned for the safety of everyone in the house."

"Faaang," the younger woman whined.

"What's this?" Officer Brown suddenly held up an intricately decorated spear with a sharp head. "I thought you said you had no weapons."

"That old thing?" Fang shrugged, grinning. "That's for decoration. We won it at an auction. I think someone found it in the woods. This is where all those Gran Pulsian tribes used to live, you know—our tribe wasn't that far away, actually, so the spear's a little keepsake to remember our heritage."

"It isn't a weapon?" The officer raised his brow skeptically.

"Well, I guess it was once, but who'd fight with a spear these days?" Fang asked incredulously, noticing Vanille biting her lip to keep from laughing at her side.

"I guess you're right." Officer Brown leaned the spear against the wall and picked up something else, furrowing his brows in confusion. "What's this?"

"Oh, that?" Fang smirked. "It's a binding rod—another decoration. I dunno what it does. We've never used it. I hear five hundred years ago it belonged to a really pretty girl."

Vanille covered her mouth with her hand to hold in her giggles that time.

"Interesting." Officer Brown set the binding rod against the wall next to the spear and continued looking.

Eventually the two officers finished their search and determined that Fang did not have any weapons, illegal or otherwise, in her room.

"We're sorry for the intrusion," Officer Todd exclaimed as they were turning to leave.

"Please, don't apologize." Fang smiled faintly. "It's good to know that NORA really does their job—keeping people safe, I mean. I just thought it was a little strange. You know, I've always been kind of flighty when it comes to practical things, so I never bothered checking the laws. I just assumed it was legal to have whatever kind of weapons you wanted after seeing the kinds of things Light keeps in her room."

"What do you mean?" Officer Brown furrowed his brows.

"Well, I mean, what sort of weapons are actually illegal?" Fang asked with an interested tilt of her head. "Lightning's practically got a museum of guns in her room. There are blades, rifles, and probably even grenades, but those must all be legal, right?"

Officer Brown and Officer Todd shared a look before the former smiled at Fang. "Have a good evening, both of you. We're sorry for the intrusion."

"Like I said, it's no problem," Fang replied with a smirk. "You can go ahead and shut the door on your way out. We'll probably be in here the rest of the night."

The officers tipped their hats before tugging the door shut.

"Did you really have to do that, Fang? Lightning will be so mad," Vanille whispered.

"Serves her right, sending them in here to bother me when she knows I'm sick," Fang replied immediately, grinning at her. "What're you so worried about anyway? Light's gotta follow the law, doesn't she?"

"I guess..." Vanille bit her lip.

Fang laughed gently and ran her fingers through her hair. "Don't worry. Light'll forgive me when she sees what I got her for Christmas."

"What'd you get?" Vanille asked with wide eyes.

"It's a secret," Fang insisted with a chuckle. "You'll find out in two days like everyone else."

"Fang!" Vanille pouted.

"All right, fine." With a grin, Fang leaned forwards and whispered in Vanille's ear.

"Really?" Vanille gasped, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yep." Fang snickered. "I think she'll like it."

"What if she can't handle it?"

Fang shrugged, smirking as she wrapped her arm around her. "Then I'll teach her how."

xxx

Lightning sat in the kitchen fiddling anxiously with one of her new tools. Occasionally she glanced up at the ceiling with pursed lips, wondering what was taking Officer Brown and Officer Todd so long. The two of them had been up in the attic for almost an hour. Far from feeling guilty, Lightning still wondered if she should go up and check on Fang and Vanille. The prank was meant to annoy them, but she did not want them to be arrested or treated cruelly by the officers, especially because Serah would never forgive her if she found out that Lightning had been the one to call NORA in the first place.

When Lightning could take it no longer and was seconds from standing up out of her chair, Officer Brown suddenly knocked on the doorframe to the kitchen and then came around the corner. Officer Todd followed close behind him, and both of them were frowning.

"Why were you up there so long?" Lightning demanded immediately.

"We searched through the attic and all of your house guests' things very thoroughly, and we found that neither of them had weapons of any sort," Officer Brown exclaimed with a weary look.

Lightning narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And?"

"As protocol demands, we searched a few other rooms on the second floor," Officer Brown continued with a frown. "We found a surplus of weapons in two of the bedrooms."

"Mine and my sister's?" Lightning pursed her lips angrily. "My sister's fiance shares her room. He's your boss."

"Snow Villiers is your sister's fiance?" Officer Brown frowned thoughtfully before his eyes light with recognition. "Ah, yes. Serah Farron. He talks about her a lot."

"That doesn't explain why your bedroom is filled with weapons, Miss Farron," Officer Todd interrupted, his hand resting on the weapon at his side as though he considered her a fugitive. "It took us a long time to catalog each of the weapons that we found in your bedroom. You will be fined for each of the seventeen unregistered weapons. In addition to that, we need you to come down to the station to answer a few questions."

"What?" Lightning snapped angrily. "I'm not coming to the station."

"It wasn't a request, Miss Farron." Officer Brown reached for the handcuffs at his side. "You have a PSICOM-grade automatic gunblade, a military model that is strictly prohibited for non-officers."

"I'm a soldier," Lightning protested.

"Our records show that you _were_ a soldier, but that organization has been dissolved." Officer Brown took a step toward her. "Officer Todd will read your rights. Please put your hands where I can see them."

Lightning considered just attacking them and throwing them out of her house, but she knew that that would lead to more trouble than it was worth. She had no intention of moving out of town, which meant that she could not simply kill a bunch of NORA officers.

With an angry sigh, Lightning stood up and put her hands out in front of her, allowing the officer to slap the handcuffs over her wrists as the other officer explained the rights that she would have during her time at the station and as NORA pressed charges against her.

As the two men escorted her out of the house, Lightning considered shouting for Sazh to call Snow, but then she decided that she would just call him herself from the station. After all, he would be much more likely to come to the station immediately if he heard the urgency—more like fury—in her voice.

The others did not even seem to notice as the door closed behind the three of them. They were too absorbed in their video games.

Xxx

The hours passed and soon it was dark. Moonlight flooded through a single barred window, casting shadows that climbed up the walls, bent at awkward angles. The seat beneath her was cold and hard, and the cement floor clanged loudly beneath her tapping foot.

Lightning had sat in one of the many Town of Troth NORA Department jail cells for at least four hours. She had tried to contact Snow at least three times, demanding more phone calls than were generally allowed to those who had been arrested, but thus far she had not heard from him. The officers who sat not far away, keys dangling around their waists, had refused to allow her to call one more time. In fact, now that Officer Brown and Officer Todd had left and the shift had changed, she did not think that the officers guarding her even believed that she knew Snow Villiers.

At first, Lightning had decided to just spend a bit of time reflecting on all of the pranks that had gone wrong over the last several days. However, eventually she was no longer feeling quite as patient. It had been a long time, and even if Snow had been busy when she called the first three times, he should have seen her message by then and came to bail her out. After all that she had put up with while he was living in her house, not the least of which the way that he constantly broke things by trying to prove that he could fix them, it was the least that he could do! Besides, there was no reason for them to have taken her to jail. She had been a soldier. Of course, she had weapons!

"Claire?"

Lightning suddenly looked up, her eyes widening with surprise, and saw her sister resting against the bars to her cell, her face worried.

"Claire, are you all right? We came as soon as we saw your message."

"What were you doing?" Lightning grumbled, crossing her arms. "I've been here for hours."

"I'm sorry. The movie was a little longer than we thought, and we went for a walk afterwards." Serah smiled sheepishly. "We had turned our phones off."

Lightning pursed her lips but nodded. "Where's Snow? I want to go home."

"I'm right here." Snow suddenly appeared in front of the cell, shifting uncomfortably. "The arresting officers recorded that you had been the one to call NORA and ask them to come search the house for weapons. Is that true?"

"No," Lightning huffed. "Why would I call them and ask them to come search the house when I know that I have weapons?"

Snow bit his lip, glancing at Serah. The two of them seemed to share a worried look.

"What?" Lightning snapped.

"It was definitely you," Snow murmured gently. "You let the officers in the house and told them they could go upstairs."

"They're lying." The ex-soldier looked away.

Shifting on his heels, Snow glanced helplessly at Serah, who nodded imperceptibly before glancing at Lightning and whispering gently, "C-Claire, did you remember to take your medicine this morning? Maybe your other personality—"

"I do not have another personality!" Lightning shouted, standing from her seat.

Serah jumped, nodding. "O-Okay. Maybe we should talk about this later."

"Just get me out of here," Lightning commanded stiffly.

"Well, I can't just make the charges go away," Snow argued with a frown. "Either you have to pay the fines or..."

"Or what?" Lightning cried incredulously.

"Well, I was thinking that you could register your gunblade _and_ register all your weapons without even paying anything if you joined NORA," Snow explained finally. "We could use your help, Light, and I know you've been really bored lately."

Lightning pursed her lips, because she did not like the idea of answering to Snow. "What's my other option?"

"You pay the fines and surrender your gunblade," Snow replied with a shrug. "It's not a bad deal. You don't have to work for NORA forever, just for a while. Like I said, we could really use your help."

"You two could work together!" Serah exclaimed excitedly. "Then you could both keep an eye on each other. I wouldn't have to worry about either of you as much."

Lightning looked between her sister and Snow, lips pursed, before she finally lowered her head and grumbled, "Fine. I'll work for NORA—but if I don't like it I'm leaving."

"Great!" Snow exclaimed triumphantly, motioning for the guard to unlock the cell. "We'll take you home tonight and then we can work out all the details tomorrow."

With a roll of her eyes, the ex-soldier nodded and walked out of the cell. "Let's go."

"I'm so excited that we'll be working together," Snow exclaimed happily, wrapping his arm around Lightning's shoulders. "Welcome to the team!"

Lighting stiffened and shrugged him off. "Whatever."

As the three of them walked to the air car together, Lightning decided that she was not going to try to play any more pranks on Fang. It was obvious that such a feat was impossible, and she did not think she could handle the stress of being even more infuriated by Fang. Instead, she would just go back to her original plan and kill Fang if the other woman put so much as another toe out of line.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry to make you wait so long, but here's the final chapter of Christmas with Fang. Thank you so much to everyone who favorited and reviewed. It makes me so happy! : ) It'll be a while before I can post a new story, because I have several big final projects coming due, but I'll try my best. I hope you enjoy this one!

**Just to throw this out there for the Lightning fans, things are not so great for her at the beginning of this chapter, but I promise it gets better afterwards. I may have gone a little overboard with bad date stereotypes, but the rest of the chapter is nicer.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the OCs, the plot, and the town.

"Is everyone ready?" Serah asked as she walked down the stairs in a gorgeous red and green dress. As she entered the room, she was fixing her hair, which had been twisted into an elegant bun.

Lightning came down the stairs behind her sister wearing a pretty black dress, though she stood somewhat uncomfortably. "I can't believe you're making us go to this or that you're making me dress this way."

"I'm not _making_ us go. We were invited, Claire. Now that you're going to be working for NORA, you'll have to go to these kinds of parties all the time," Serah exclaimed gently, a warm smile covering her features. "And I just want you to look pretty. You never know who you'll meet."

"What do you mean?" Lightning narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Light's joining NORA?" Fang asked loudly, a grin crossing her features. "So, Snow's your boss."

"Shut up," Lightning grumbled before turning to her sister. "If this is a party for people who work at NORA and their families, why does Fang get to go?"

"Because she's our friend and Snow invited everyone," Serah replied with a sigh. "Claire, I know you've been really mad at Fang, but it's Christmas Eve. Let's set aside everything that may or may not have happened—"

"Fang _did_ play those pranks and I do _not_ have a split personality!"

"—and just all try to get along." Serah stared at her sister, her eyes growing wide and sad. "Can you please do that for me, Claire?"

"I can do that if Fang promises not to talk for the entire night," Lightning replied with a cruel smirk.

"Claire," Serah warned, frowning.

"Come on, Light. It's Christmas. Let's put everything aside and be friends again," Fang replied with a pleading look that somehow seemed even more teasing.

Sazh suddenly came up the basement stairs wearing a suit and tie. Dajh followed quickly behind, wearing a miniature version of the same outfit with a different tie. "We're ready now." Glancing at Fang, his eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, Fang. You look great!"

Fang smirked and glanced down at herself, for she had donned a gorgeous and slimming black dress that slit down the front to reveal a tasteful amount of cleavage and only fell to her knees. "Surprised?"

"N-No, of course not." Sazh shook his head, smiling sheepishly. "You just look really pretty."

"Except for her hair," Vanille proclaimed as she walked up beside Fang and ran her fingers lovingly through her wild dark locks. "She wouldn't let me braid it."

"I can only look so girly at any given time, Vanille," Fang joked, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "You're the one who looks really gorgeous tonight, though I don't think I've seen you without your stomach showing in about five hundred years now."

Vanille laughed lightly and looked down at the sleeveless green dress that fell to her mid-thighs. It was covered in sparkly sequins that shimmered in the light and accentuated her curves without revealing any part of her. "You like it? Serah helped me pick it out."

Fang nodded, sliding her hand down to her waist as she tugged her close. "Are you excited about tonight? You always liked parties."

The younger Gran Pulsian woman nodded enthusiastically. "You haven't taken me to a party in five hundred years."

Smirking, Fang grumbled, "Well, sorry, but I was a little busy being frozen in crystal and saving the world."

With a giggle, Vanille wrapped her arms around Fang's waist and snuggled against her.

Snow and Hope suddenly came down the stairs dressed in suits, and the former did not seem to notice when the latter furrowed his brows sadly as he looked upon Fang and Vanille.

"Serah, is everyone ready to go?" Snow asked cheerfully.

"I think so." Serah smiled warmly. "Let's all hurry and get our coats on. We don't want to be late for the party. It's not very far away, but I don't think anyone plowed the roads."

Lightning grumbled to herself as she walked to the closet and began to shove her arms into her coat, so Fang leaned over to Vanille and murmured playfully in her ear, "I hope she's in a better mood by the time we get to the party or she'll kill that poor guy Serah's trying to set her up with."

Vanille covered her mouth to hide her giggles.

"Aren't you going to put your coat on, Vanille?" Hope asked half-heartedly as he came up beside her. "You look really pretty."

"Thanks, Hope," Vanille chirped as she disengaged herself from Fang. "You're right. I better put something on. This dress isn't warm at all."

"Neither is your coat," Fang teased as everyone else began to get ready.

"Oh, no. I didn't realize what time it was!" Serah suddenly gasped from the kitchen. "We have to go right now. Hurry!"

"Serah, it's okay if we're late," Snow assured her gently.

"No. We have to get there right on time," Serah told him urgently.

After all, she had planned for Lightning to meet her suitor immediately when the party began.

xxx

The party was held in the only fancy hotel in the entire town of Troth. It had been gorgeously decorated for the season with boughs of holly and Christmas lights dangling down the side of the building and twisting along the railings. There were several decorated pine trees lining the path up to the entrance, and the winding path had been lit with glowing crystals.

While Vanille was walking, she slipped on the path with a shriek, but Fang caught her with an arm around her waist, pulling her close and murmuring in her ear, "Careful now."

Vanille smiled gratefully and asked, "Fang, how d'you always keep your balance?"

"It's simply really." Fang smirked without looking at her. "I wear appropriate shoes."

The younger woman looked down and gasped in surprise. "Fang, you wore your hunting boots! You can't wear hunting boots with that dress."

"Says who? It's slippery out," Fang replied with a playful smile, her hand resting firmly on Vanille's waist to prevent her from slipping again. "One of the two of us has to be sensible."

"I'm sensible," Vanille pouted.

Fang laughed lightly. "Not when it comes to winter."

Only a few steps away, Lighting was glaring at her sister. "You're hiding something from me."

"Claire, all I said was that I know you're going to have a good time tonight," Serah insisted nervously. "Why is it so wrong for me to want you to have fun?"

"You're hiding something," Lightning insisted irritably. "What is it?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" Serah insisted, looking nervously to Snow. "Am I hiding anything?"

"No, of course not. Serah would never hide anything from you, Claire. You two are a family," Snow assured her confidently as he wrapped his arm around Serah's waist. "In fact, we're all going to be family soon. We should talk about the wedding, right, Serah? Er...what kind of dresses are your bridesmaids going to be wearing?"

Lightning scoffed. "Don't try to distract me. I know you're hiding something. Both of you are."

"No one is hiding anything," Serah insisted, crossing her arms stubbornly. "I just wanted you to enjoy the party."

"Why're you giving everyone so much trouble, Light?" Fang suddenly interjected as she came up beside the other woman, her arm still wrapped around Vanille's waist. "It's a party. We're _all_ gonna have fun."

"Not if I can help it," Lightning growled, narrowing her eyes. "You've had enough fun for the Christmas season."

"I dunno what you're talking about," Fang replied with a gleeful smirk, because she still refused to admit responsibility for any of the pranks that she had played over the last week. "Anyway, the point is, be true to your name and _light_en up. Parties are supposed to be fun."

"Fang is right, Claire," Serah exclaimed as she took her sister's arm. "It's Christmas Eve. So, can you just trust me?"

Although she glared at the ground, Lightning nodded her head slowly, "Fine, I trust you. But if you're lying, I'll be mad."

Serah gulped and wondered if her sister would really hate her for setting her up with someone. She thought it would be a little unfair when all she wanted was for her sister to be happy like she was, but there was no way of knowing how Lightning would take it or how her unexpected date would go. There was a chance that she would storm out of the party immediately, but Serah was hoping that her sister would at least give the man a chance.

xxx

It did not take the group long to enter the hotel, which was even fancier on the inside than it had been on the outside. Boughs of holly had been powered with imitation snow and tied to the walls and railings with red ribbons. Tinsel framed doorways and picture frames, and several Christmas trees had been set up both in the hallways and the room in which the party would take place. The entire hotel seemed to smell of pine needles, and gorgeous globes of colored glass had been strung from the Christmas trees in addition to the garland, strings of beads, popcorn balls and candy canes decorating them.

The group was met at the door by a man who took their coats, and then they moved into the sea of guests, who cheerfully greeted them partially in the spirit of the season and partially because Snow was almost everyone's boss.

When they finally found a corner of the room where they could stand for a few moments and gather themselves, Serah ushered everyone out into the open where they could be seen and made a large fuss about how they could not hide from everyone. However, when she saw the way that her sister was looking at her, she flushed and insisted that it was only because she did not want all of their coworkers to think that they were recluses.

"This party is so wonderful!" Vanille cheered, clapping her hands together.

"I know!" Hope came up beside her with a shy smile on his face. "Isn't it all so beautiful? Look at the trees."

Vanille nodded her head enthusiastically. "Look, there are candles in all the windows. I wonder why they do that. We always had a reason for all of our customs in Oerba, and when we put candles in the windows it was either to keep bad spirits away or to guide lost spirits home. I bet that's not why they use them for this holiday."

"Probably not," Hope agreed as he tilted his head to the side. "I actually don't know why they put candles in the windows. We could ask Serah."

With a shrug, Vanille swept her eyes across the room and then gasped. "Fang, look! There're so many presents over there!"

Fang raised her brow and grinned playfully. "I bet they're not for us."

"Oh. I thought maybe they would give them out to the guests." Vanille pouted. "Who do you think they're for?"

"They're for the employees. It's a Secret Santa," Snow explained from behind them. "I don't know where the custom comes from, but it sounded like fun when I heard about it, so everyone was assigned a person who they had to give an anonymous gift."

"What if they give them something really cruel?" Vanille asked with wide eyes.

"Hopefully, no one would do anything like that," Snow replied with a frown. "Christmas is about being charitable and kind."

Fang shrugged and glanced at Vanille. "D'you want something to drink? I saw some juices and stuff while we were coming in."

"Sure," Vanille smiled. "What kinds did they have?"

"I dunno. I just saw them," Fang replied with a faint smile. "Come to think of it, I don't even know what kind of drinks they have here other than those fizzy ones Hope always drinks and milk and water. I bet it's all fruity stuff."

"A lot of the drinks here tonight are alcoholic," Serah warned gently. "I don't know what kind of drinks you had in Oerba, but you should be careful."

"Careful?" Fang laughed lightly. "If anyone can hold their alcohol, it's me. You can't even compare the wine you people drink here to the stuff we had back in my village. It only took one glass of that stuff to knock poor Vanille out."

"Fang! That's not true." Vanille pouted. "I could drink almost as much as you."

"Liar," Fang teased, wrapping her arm around her waist and pulling her close. "One glass and you'd be giggling and stumbling all over the place."

"I don't remember that at all," Vanille huffed, crossing her arms.

With a smirk, Fang murmured, "Well, you wouldn't, now would ya?"

Vanille elbowed Fang in the side, though she could not hide her faint smile. "Stop saying mean things about me. I thought you were gonna go get me a drink."

"All right." Fang laughed lightly. "I dunno what they have, so I'll just surprise you with something good."

"Okay," Vanille chirped happily.

The friends quickly broke into groups and separated. Hope opted to go with Sazh and Dajh to one of the tables where food and drinks were being offered, Fang walked to the table where only alcoholic beverages were being offered, Snow went to greet a few of his coworkers, and Lightning and Serah stood awkwardly beside each other. Lightning was still quite suspicious of her sister, so she had decided not to take her eyes off of her. Meanwhile, Serah was attempting to figure out how to explain things without upsetting her older sister, because the man with whom she wanted to set her up was walking toward them.

"Claire," Serah suddenly turned to her sister with a nervous smile, "I have something to tell you."

Lightning crossed her arms. "So, you are hiding something?"

"Just one little thing." Serah pouted sadly. "It was for your own good. You wouldn't have come if I said anything."

"What is it?" Lightning demanded, lips pursed.

"I've been worried about you lately," Serah began cautiously. "I'm really worried that you're unhappy or that you will be, especially when Snow and I leave. I don't want you to be lonely, Claire. I hate that."

Lightning, who distinctly did not like where the conversation was going, attempted to interrupt, but her sister shushed her.

"I thought you might like some help meeting someone," Serah explained, "so I asked Snow—"

"You asked _Snow_?!" Lightning grumbled.

"—if he knew anyone, since I thought you would probably be attracted to a strong man who knows the difference between right and wrong, which I would imagine most N.O.R.A. Agents do—"

"A N.O.R.A. agent?!"

"—so, anyway, there is one officer who's single and very attractive so I decided to surprise you by setting up a blind date, and here he comes now, so smile!" Serah forced a smile onto her face a she turned to face the man that Snow had recommended. "Hi, Jake. How are you?"

"Serah, it's so nice to finally meet you. You're look so beautiful tonight." Jake smirked at her as he took her hand before he released it and turned to face Lightning. "You're Lightning, right? You look so much like your sister. Wow. It's really nice to meet both of you."

Lightning stared at him before turning back to her sister and growling, "You've never even met him?"

"Well, Snow sort of knows him," Serah replied hastily.

"_Sort o_f?!" Lightning cried incredulously.

"Snow and I don't really see each other a lot because we work different shifts, but he hired me so I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a good guy," Jake interjected lightly as he offered his hand to Lightning. "It really is great to meet you. I've been excited about this date ever since Snow approached me saying that your sister wanted to set us up."

Lightning merely glared at her sister.

"So, what do you want to do?" Jake asked with a polite smile. "Do you want to dance?"

"No," Lightning replied uncomfortably.

With a nervous laugh, Serah suggested, "Maybe the two of you could just talk and get to know each other. I can go somewhere else."

"Me, too," Vanille agreed, since she was still standing nearby but felt rather awkward.

Lightning pursed her lips, because she was rather irritated by this change of plans. However, she saw no reason why she should not at least speak to the man. He was a NORA agent, so they had to have some things in common, and he was rather attractive with piercing green eyes, messy dark hair, and a muscular build.

"Fine." Lightning narrowed her eyes at her sister so Serah would know that she was still mad at her. "We'll talk."

"Great." Serah clapped her hands together excitedly and forced a smile. "I'll leave you two alone then. Enjoy yourselves!"

Serah immediately took Vanille by the arm and dragged her away.

Lightning shifted awkwardly. "Um, we can sit at this table."

He nodded, seemingly amused by her uncomfortably behavior, and pulled out her chair for her, Once she had sat down, he walked around the table and seated himself across from her.

"So, tell me about yourself." He smiled warmly. "What do you do? Snow told me you used to work for the Guardian Corps."

Lightning flinched internally, since her career as a soldier was a sensitive topic with most others after all that had occurred before Cocoon had hit the ground. "Yeah, I used to work for them."

"Well, what do you do now?" Jake prompted patiently.

"I've been remodeling my house." Lightning furrowed her brows. "You work for Snow?"

"Yep. I've been working for NORA since it started—at least, since it started here." With a warm smile, he explained, "It's a very fulfilling job. I really love to help people. I'm pretty guilty of being a great guy."

Lightning stared blankly at him.

"That was a joke." He shifted awkwardly. "Anyway, I just really like to feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives. A NORA officer's primary goal is to help people in need, and that's what I do best."

"What do you do as an officer?" Lightning asked, only truly interested because she was going to have to work for Snow.

"Oh, you know, all kinds of things. Sometimes I have to go to people's houses and take away dangerous weapons and other times I'm rescuing baby chocobos from trees."

Lightning did not think she would enjoy being ever at the beck and call of a public who should really learn to take care of itself.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" Jake inquired curiously.

"Not really. Not besides remodeling."

"Oh." He smiled awkwardly before joking, "Well, enough about you. Let's talk about me!"

The pink-haired woman merely narrowed her eyes.

"That was another joke." He sighed. "Anyway, I have a few hobbies. I play guitar and I love to read. I'm not sure if people really consider that a hobby, but I read all the time. I also love target practice. I go way more than is natural. I just think it's important to be prepared for anything, especially because learning how to use a new weapon means learning how to disarm it, which means that I can protect even more people."

"Right," Lightning replied as she mused that he sounded a little too much like Snow, except his features did not look as sincere when he claimed that he wanted to protect everyone.

Jake sat awkwardly for a while before he suddenly asked, "What did the green grape say to the purple grape?"

Lightning, taken by surprise, furrowed her brows. "What?"

"It said 'breathe!'" He exclaimed, snickering at his own joke.

The ex-soldier stared blankly.

"Not funny enough? Okay, I'll try another one." He frowned thoughtfully before asking, "What bone will a dog never eat?"

He paused, waiting for her to answer, but Lightning could think of nothing.

"A trombone!" Jake burst out laughing again, but he frowned when Lightning did not seem amused. "Okay. Uh...Who can shave 25 times a day and still have a beard? A barber! You have to admit, that one's pretty funny."

Lightning furrowed her brows.

"Did you hear about the fire at the circus?" He asked excitedly. "It was in tents!"

"I'm not really a joke person," Lightning interrupted irritably.

"Yeah, I can tell you don't really have a sense of humor." Jake sighed, disappointed. "It's okay. I shouldn't have expected you to understand my jokes. Women never think they're funny, but that's just because they have no sense of humor. They try to tell me jokes, but they're not funny at all."

Lightning pursed her lips, because she did not like generalizations.

xxx

A few feet away, Fang snorted from where she was crouched behind a series of rather large flower pots. With a glass of red wine in one hand and a biscuit in the other, Fang grumbled, "What the hell's he talking about? I'm the funniest person I've ever met!"

Vanille offered Fang a faint smile, patting her arm, before she glanced at Serah, whose eyes were wide and whose mouth hung open. "Serah, are you okay? You don't look so good. What's wrong?"

"I just have a really bad feeling about this all the sudden." Serah frowned faintly. Leaning forwards as she tried to hear more clearly what they were discussing. "Jake seemed really nice when Snow described him, but I just have a feeling that things are going to get worse..."

xxx

"You know, I really respect that you decided not to work after Cocoon fell and the army dried up," Jake told Lightning with a proud look on his face. "The thought that you decided to dedicate that time to taking care of your house and let Snow support you until you got back into the swing of things really impresses me."

Lightning's eyebrow twitched. "I don't letSnowsupport me. I _let _him live in my house. And I have a job now."

"Oh, right." Jake laughed lightly. "Sorry, I forgot that Snow gave you a job. Man, what a great guy. First he supports is future sister-in-law while she's working on her own creative projects, and then he gives her a job when she can't find anything. No wonder he bagged a beauty like Serah."

Irritated, Lightning insisted, "I could've found a job if I wanted to. Snow begged me to work for NORA."

"It's not really a big deal. That's what family is for, helping us out when we're down." Jake smiled cheerfully. "Anyway, I just really respect women who take care of their families. I can tell that you're that kind of woman, since you've taken on the responsibility of the house while Snow and Serah are at work." When Lightning stared blankly, he added, "You know, since you've been redecorating."

Lightning pursed her lips. "I've been _remodeling_, not redecorating. That means building things with tools. I'm not the stay-at-home kind of woman at all, and I don't want kids—ever."

"Oh." Jake frowned awkwardly. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, having a family isn't for every woman..."

"I know that," Lightning replied firmly.

"I really didn't mean to offend you." He laughed awkwardly. "Wow, Jake, way to be an idiot on the first date. I'm just really nervous."

Lightning offered no words of comfort.

"Okay, maybe we should just talk about something else. What if I turn on the charm?" With a wide grin, he leaned across the table to look into her eyes. "You're so beautiful. I've never see anyone so gorgeous."

"Thanks..." An uncomfortable frown flitted across her features.

"I'm really glad you are, too." He added with a relieved smile. "When Snow first told me about you and said that you were a really strong ex-soldier, I imagined this really big, bulky she-hulk kind of woman. I didn't want to go out with you at first, since I couldn't stand to be with a woman who was obviously a lot stronger than me, but then Snow showed me a picture of your sister and I thought 'if she looks anything like Snow's fiancée, I'll be happy.'"

"You think I'm not stronger than you?" Lightning gritted her teeth.

"Oh, that's not what I meant. After what Snow told me, I'm sure you're pretty strong. I just don't want you to look stronger than me. I was afraid you'd be all butch without the lesbian, you know what I mean?" Jake laughed at yet another failed joke and then sighed as he realized she did not think it was funny. "Anyway, though, you're not. You're not as cute as your sister, but in a good way. You're like...an older, hotter version of Serah. It works out really well, 'cause I've always been _so_ jealous of Snow for bagging that fine piece of—"

"Don't finish that sentence," Lightning warned with narrowed eyes, her fists clenching.

He looked her over, eyes widening, before he laughed awkwardly. "Wow, sorry about that. I don't even know what I'm saying. What girl wants to hear about how hot her little sister is? Ha ha. I get really nervous on first dates. Please ignore everything I just said."

Xxx

"Oh my God, this is the worst date ever," Serah cried miserably as she covered her eyes with her hands. "I'm a complete failure. All I wanted was for Lightning not to be lonely, but how could I let this happen? She's going to kill him. I'll never let Snow be a part of anything I do ever again!"

"Look at Light's face," Fang commented. "Looks like he's too much of an idiot to see she's getting angry."

"Why's he keep saying so many stupid things?" Vanille questioned as she tilted her head to the side. "Lightning'll never go out with him now."

"She better not. He doesn't deserve her," Fang replied with a roll of her eyes before she glanced at the other two. "Light would never go out with a loser like that, right Serah?"

"I hope not." Serah lowered her eyes and pouted. "I've never really seen her with a boyfriend. I just wanted to set her up with someone so that she wouldn't have to be lonely during Christmas. How could this happen?"

"To be fair, you probably could've stood to meet the guy before introducing him to Light considering that Snow picked him out." Fang grinned teasingly. "Now, quiet. I'm trying to eavesdrop here!"

Serah hung her head dramatically. "Claire will never forgive me."

"It'll be okay, Serah," Vanille reassured her gently, patting her shoulder. "I bet Lightning will understand. Everyone goes on bad dates. It's not your fault."

Serah smiled half-heartedly, "Thanks, Vanille. Maybe you're right."

xxx

After Jake finished telling Lightning his excruciatingly boring life story, he leaned across the table with a weary smile and exclaimed, "I know it's a little early to talk about exes, but I have one ex-girlfriend that I really want to warn you about. You'll want to look out for her."

"I won't have any problem with her," Lightning began, preparing to explain that there was no point in continuing the date because the two of them would never be together anyway.

"Listen to the story before you decide that," Jake interrupted with a faint smile. "Kelsa and I dated two years ago, but the whole time that we were together she was totally obsessed with the idea that I was cheating on her. I would never do anything like that, but she was sure of it just because she caught me at a strip club once. She even followed me around for a while trying to catch me flirting with girls, but I was all 'I'm a dude. It's what I do!'"

He laughed, apparently joking again, but Lightning merely glared at him as she considered just getting up and walking away.

"Anyway, as if everything she put me through wasn't enough, Kelsa has spent the last two years stalking my new girlfriends and telling them lies about how bad a boyfriend I am." He rolled his eyes. "I don't get why she's still so obsessed with me. I wasn't that bad, and it's not like she was perfect either. I mean, what's her problem? I just made out with one of her friends once. It was an accident. I didn't even mean to!"

"Why would she get upset about that?" Lighting grunted sarcastically.

"I know, right? Anyway, I don't really like to talk about her." Jake shrugged indifferently. "She broke up with me because apparently all of my friends were always hitting on her and saying bad things about her. I don't see what the big deal was, they were all joking 'cause they thought she had a sense of humor."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "You let all your friends harass her?"

"Whoa, calm down. Harass is a really strong word!" Jake gave her a look. "You don't understand the situation. Kelsa always dressed in these outfits that left nothing to the imagination. What did she expect? Am I right?"

"No, you wrong, and you're an idiot," Lightning replied stiffly.

"Hey, you do make jokes! And that one was actually kind of funny." He snorted with laughter.

"I wasn't joking." Lightning ground her teeth together.

xxx

"Come on, Light! You know you wanna hit him," Fang urged quietly as she popped another piece of bread into her mouth. "Get him right in the jaw."

"He's really mean," Vanille commented with a pout. "How come he thinks it's okay to treat his last girlfriend that way? He almost sounds...proud."

"Well, he's an idiot who doesn't understand dating," Fang replied with a shrug, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "I dunno how he ever got anyone to go out with him."

"I don't know either," Serah gasped, her hands still covering her eyes. "I can't watch anymore. What's happening now?"

"I think Light's trying to decide whether she should knock his lights out or just walk away," Fang replied with a faint smirk. "Let's hope she chooses the first option, 'cause otherwise I might have to do it and I'll hit him a lot harder than she would."

"Why?" Serah glanced curiously at her Fang. "Was it what he said about butch women?"

"He said women aren't funny," Fang replied matter-of-factly, clenching her fists, "which is ridiculous, 'cause I'm hilarious."

Serah and Vanille both stared at her.

Fang raised her brow. "What?"

xxx

Although Lightning was growing rather angry with this irritating man, she decided that she needed to calm down and let the situation go. It was Christmas Eve, after all, and she did not want everyone at the party to have their first impression of her be violence. However, she could not stand to sit with this man any longer, so without a word she stood from the table and began to walk away.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Jake immediately jumped up to follow her. "Did you want something to drink? Because I could've gotten it for you. If there's one thing I am, it's a gentleman."

Lightning glared at him. "The date is over. Don't follow me."

"What? Why?" He blinked in confusion. "I thought things were going really well."

"Well, you're an idiot," Lighting told him harshly.

"There's no need to get petty," he grumbled, crossing his arms. "Look, maybe I said some stupid stuff, but it's just because I'm nervous. Girls always tell me that I'm clingy and come off way too strong, but that's just because I want to put all of myself into a relationship." He reached for her hand, his eyes sparkling in the light. "That's how much relationships mean to me."

Lightning scoffed, tearing her hand out of his grasp. "Really? This relationship is so important to you that you open up the first date with a _charming_ speech about how hot my sister is?"

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that." He pursed his lips. "But your sister _is_ hot. I'm a really upfront person. I don't hold anything back."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, just wait!" Jake suddenly lunged forwards, taking her by the arm and preventing her from leaving. "Okay, I get it. You don't want to go out with me, and that's fine, but this doesn't have to be the end. Give me another chance!"

"You're not worth my time," Lightning grumbled as she turned away.

"Ugh, fine. You're nothing like your sister." Jake crossed his arms angrily. "I _thought_ you'd be like her, the way Snow described her, anyway. She's perfect. God, if I could just get my hands on her. I could make her _way_ happier than Snow, if you know what I mean."

"What did you say about my little sister?" Lightning took a step closer to him.

"Don't act insulted. I'm complimenting her. She's perfect," With a dreamy look, he added, "I'd give anything to get in her pants—"

Lightning lost it, immediately throwing her fist into his jaw.

xxx

"Yes!" Fang cheered excitedly from behind the flower pot. "I _knew_ she was gonna get him right in the jaw. Serves him right."

Serah was watching the scene with wide eyes, her face flushed. "H-He wanted _me_?"

"Seems like it. Wait 'til Snow finds out," Fang replied with a roll of her eyes. "Thank the Gods she finally hit him. I was gonna have to go do it myself otherwise."

"What d'you think'll happen now, Fang?" Vanille asked with a worried frown. "He's just lying there on the ground. I think Lightning knocked him out, and now everyone's looking at her."

"Well, she's got two choices," Fang replied with a gleam in her eye. "And since she can't kill do much in public, I'm assuming she'll leave him there and go try to enjoy the party."

"How can she enjoy anything after that?" Serah bit her lip sadly. "This is all my fault. Claire will never talk to me again."

"Honestly, Serah, chances are she'll get over it," Fang replied gently. "Besides, she'll be mad at Snow, not you. You never even met the guy before tonight."

"But that's even worse!" Serah cried sadly.

xxx

Lightning stared down at the unconscious man, her fists still clenched, and tried to decide whether or not she should hit him again for good measure. It was bad enough when he was insulting her, but she would not allow him to talk about her sister that way. In her mind, Serah was still young and innocent and in need of protection, so it should be no surprise to anyone that such a comment would inspire her to teach him a quick lesson. For that reason, she did not care that everyone was staring at her, and she did not feel the need to explain herself to Snow, who was looking at her with wide eyes from across the room.

Eventually, Lightning turned away from the man and walked toward a rather noisy flower pot that she had only been able to hear once the irritating man finally stopped his incessant chatter. The voices quieted as she approached, but it was far too late to hide from her.

As soon as she stood in front of the plants, Lightning's hand snapped out and grabbed the first bundle of fabric that she felt. Then she dragged it forwards and found herself face-to-face with a grinning Gran Pulsian woman whose dress she held by the fabric at the chest.

Fang was forced to stand so that her dress would not rip, but she did not seem concerned as she took a calm sip of wine. "Hey, Light! It's a shame your date went so badly, but I'm glad you taught that bugger a lesson. My only advice would be to hit him where it really hurts next time."

Vanille suddenly stood up as well, biting her lip nervously because she could see how angrily Lightning was looking at Fang.

Serah stood as well, but she hid her eyes for the shame that she felt at setting her sister up with such a terrible man.

"I'm going to ask you one question, Fang," Lighting seethed angrily. "The answer to that question will decide whether you live or die."

"Those're pretty high stakes," Fang replied playfully.

"Was this a prank?" Lightning snapped angrily. "Because if it was, I swear I—"

"Nope, it wasn't, and that's the truth," Fang assured her, glancing down at the way Lightning was holding her by the dress and smirking faintly. "You better let go, Light. If you hold that any tighter, the dress'll rip and everyone'll get to see a little more of me than I thought tonight."

Lightning immediately released her, growling, "Do you swear it wasn't a prank?"

"Claire, it wasn't. I would never help Fang play a prank on you," Serah interrupted gently.

With a glare, Lightning silenced her sister. "I'll deal with you next."

"Yes, I swear it wasn't." Fang rolled her eyes. "Light, if it was a prank, it would've been funny, and if I was setting you up with someone, which I clearly should've done instead of suggesting that Serah do it, he'd have been a lot better for you."

"You're the one who suggested this?" Lightning cried incredulously. "Why?"

"You seemed lonely," Fang replied with an innocent look.

Lightning gritted her teeth. "It _was_ a prank."

Fang shook her head back and forth. "I don't play those kind of pranks. The stakes are too high when it comes to romance."

"Well, all of you can stay out of that part of my life from now on," Lightning insisted, glaring at her sister. "I will decide who I date and when I date them, and I'll live my own damn life or you can find someone else to live. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Fang agreed with an easy grin.

Serah gulped, nodding. "I-I just wanted to help, Claire. I didn't want you to be alone, especially when Snow and I are always together and it's usually just the three of us in the house."

"Well, I think you've helped enough."

Vanille shifted uncomfortably and hugged Fang's arm. "Maybe we should all just try to enjoy the party now. Jake was really mean. We can't let him ruin our fun."

"You're right, Vanille." Fang smiled down at her. "Wanna dance?"

Vanille's features lit up and she nodded her head enthusiastically. "I love dancing. Fang, we haven't danced in five hundred years."

"Has it really been that long?" Fang joked, wrapping her arm around her waist and beginning to tug her away. "Well, cheer up. We've aged really well."

Vanille giggled. "This is so exciting!"

Lightning watched the two of them walk away before she turned to face her sister. "Come on. We have to find Snow."

"Why?" Serah bit her lip nervously. "You're not going to try to hurt him, are you Claire? I know he didn't know that Jake was like that."

"I have to explain what happened." Lightning pursed her lips, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm not getting fired before my first day because of some jerk."

"Oh, okay." Serah smiled faintly. "Snow won't fire you, Claire. We're family now."

xxx

Thirty minutes or so later, Hope stood near the drinks with a fruit-flavored alcoholic beverage he had taken when no one was looking. His drink remained untouched in his hand as he stared into the distance with a miserable look.

"You okay, Hope?" Sazh asked with a worried look as he appeared next to him.

"What are you talking about? This is just fruit punch!" Hope gasped, his eyes wide.

"What?" Sazh raised his brows.

"Er, I'm okay." Hope lied immediately, forcing a smile and glancing at him. "Where's Dajh?"

Sazh pointed across the room. "He's right over there playing at the kids' table."

"Oh." Hope nodded glumly before his gaze drifted away again.

With a frown, the older man followed Hope's gaze onto the dance floor. His eyes lit with realization as he saw Fang and Vanille dancing together to a slow ballad. There were only couples on the floor, and the two were pressed against each other. Vanille's arms were wrapped around Fang's neck, her cheek pressed to Fang's shoulder. In turn, Fang held Vanille close to her, one arm wrapped around her waist and her other arm curling protectively across her back. It was clear from the grins on their faces that, as usual, Fang was teasing Vanille and the younger woman was giggling.

With a sigh, Sazh placed his hand on Hope's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You know, son, I hate to agree with the others, but it's pretty clear to me that Fang and Vanille are not just friends."

Hope's shoulders fell and he looked away. "I-I guess you're probably right, but I just don't want to accept that."

Sazh frowned sympathetically and patted his shoulder. "I know it's hard now, Hope, but you're young. You've got a lot of living left to do. There will be plenty of other girls."

Hope nodded and lowered his head. "I just really like Vanille. That's all."

"I know." Sazh smiled faintly. "But you'll be okay."

"He'll be okay?" Lightning suddenly appeared beside Sazh. "What's wrong? Is he sick?"

Sazh gave her a pointed look and nodded his head toward Fang and Vanille on the dance floor. "He's just coming to terms with certain things."

Lightning followed his gaze and shrugged as she glanced at Hope. "She's too old for you anyway. You'll find someone else."

Hope nodded, furrowing his brows thoughtfully. Then he turned to Lightning and flushed faintly. "Wanna dance?"

Lightning took a step backwards in surprise and gasped, "I'm older than Vanille!"

As Sazh tried to hold back his laughter, Hope exclaimed with a faint smile, "It was worth a shot."

"Tch," Lightning scoffed.

Sazh, who could no longer hold in his laughter, patted Hope's shoulder again. "You'll be just fine."

xxx

"Fang, what's wrong?" Vanille asked curiously after she and Fang had stopped dancing. She followed the other woman's gaze and furrowed her brows. "Oh. Light's standing over there by the drinks. She looks so unhappy."

"I think that guy really got to her." Fang pursed her lips. "He was an idiot."

Vanille nodded vigorously. "I'm glad I never had to go on dates."

Fang smiled faintly at that, wrapping her arm absently around Vanille's waist as she raised her brows an attractive man standing several feet away from Lightning. He kept glancing at her, but whenever he thought that she was looking at him, he looked quickly away, a flush covering his face. Eventually, Snow walked over to him and patted his shoulder sympathetically. Then the two of them shared a wry look.

"What're you looking at?" Vanille asked curiously.

Fang shook her head, grinning at Vanille. "I think I want another drink."

"Really? You already had two glasses of wine," Vanille commented gently.

"I know, but I'm really thirsty," Fang replied as she leaned down to kiss Vanille's cheek. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay." Vanille nodded and watched her curiously.

Fang strode across the ballroom and stopped in front of the drinks. She pretended to be attempting to decide what she wanted as she listened carefully to Snow and the man.

"You seriously set her up with that asshole?" The man gasped, his eyes wide.

"I didn't know he was like that," Snow protested miserably. "There's only one way to make it up to her. _You_ have to ask her out. It was originally gonna be you, but you chickened out and now look what happened! Serah would've killed me if I told her that I suddenly didn't have anyone. That's why I asked Jake."

The man lowered his eyes nervously. "I-I know, but how could I even talk to her? Just look at her. Not only is she beautiful, but she's a soldier! I'm just the loser who couldn't make it into the Guardian Corps."

"You're a really good officer. She'd be able to see that," Snow murmured gently. "Come on. Look how upset she looks? You have to cheer her up."

"I just can't do it, Snow." He sighed and shook his head. "She's too good for me."

Snow frowned and looked away. "All right. I can't force you. I just wish you had more confidence in yourself. You'd be a great boyfriend."

"Thanks, man." The handsome man sighed wearily. "I don't have the confidence for a woman like Lightning though. She'd never be happy with me."

"You have a lot more confidence than you think. You couldn't do this job otherwise." Snow's eyes seemed to shine brightly as he began his motivational speech, "Someday you two _will_ be together. I just know it! You're perfect for her."

The two of them chatted for a little bit longer before Snow walked away. As the mysterious man was pouring himself another drink, Fang downed half a glass of wine and murmured, "Here's to hoping you're right, Snow."

Fang turned to the side and suddenly crashed right into the man, causing him to stumble forwards into Lightning and spill his drink on himself. Then she inched behind several people where neither of them would be able to see her.

The man first looked down at the stain on his shirt and then at Lightning, who was staring irritably up at him. His eyes widened as his cheeks flushed. "I-I am _so_ sorry! Oh my gosh, did I hurt you? I didn't mean to crash into you like that. Someone knocked into me—probably someone drunk."

Lightning scoffed. "I'm fine. You spilled your drink."

He looked down at himself again and then laughed wryly. "Yeah, I can see that. Well, this is just great. This is exactly how I wanted to meet you. God, I'm an idiot."

"What?" Lightning raised her brows and took a step back.

"Huh? No, wait!" His eyes widened. "I didn't mean for that to sound creepy. I'm, uh, I'm Snow's friend."

"Another one?" Lightning nearly growled.

"Huh?" He shook his head. "Wait, no! I'm not like Jake. Snow wasn't trying to set us up or anything. Well, he was going to, because I guess he thinks we'd be perfect for each other, but then I chickened out so he asked Jake instead, so I feel like this whole thing is my fault and—God, why am I still talking?!"

Lightning stared at him, unsure what to say.

"Okay, let me start again." He looked like he wanted to punch himself in the face. "I'm Phil. As you can see, I'm kind of hopeless when it comes to talking to girls, but I really like you. I wasn't going to tell you, since I thought it would be better to just, you know, crawl in a hole and die, but…well, then I kind of walked into you and threw my drink all over myself so I figured I might as well just go for it."

Try as she might, Lightning could not help but crack the faintest almost-smile. She had never met such an awkward man.

Phil scratched his head nervously. "So, um, wanna talk to me for a few minutes and pretend you like me so I can keep what's left of my dignity?"

Lightning scoffed, not wanting to let on that she actually thought he was kind of cute. "Fine. Whatever."

He smiled widely. "Really?"

Lightning nodded.

"Well, um…tell me about yourself?" He asked with a hopeful look. "Do you have any, um, hobbies?"

As Lightning shifted uncomfortably and reluctantly began describing the changes she had been making to her house, Fang walked away with a sincere grin on her face.

xxx

A few hours later, the group was standing together near the dance floor. It was late and everyone was exhausted and ready for the evening to end.

"Can we go yet?" Lightning grumbled, her arms crossed.

"We just have to wait for Snow to say goodbye to everyone," Serah replied gently. "He'll be quick."

Vanille, who was standing a few steps away from Serah, nudged the dark-haired woman standing beside her and asked, "Fang, what's that?"

Fang raised her brows and followed the younger woman's extended finger to the ceiling above her head. "It looks like mistletoe. Wonder why they've got it up there like that."

"Isn't mistletoe poisonous?" Vanille inquired with a worried look. "What if it fell on the floor and a child tried to eat it?"

"Are you talking about the mistletoe?" Serah inquired gently as she came up beside them.

"Yeah." Vanille nodded, furrowing her brows in confusion. "Why's it up on the ceiling like that Serah?"

"It's a really romantic Christmas tradition," Snow interjected as he came up beside them and wrapped his arm around Serah, smiling lovingly at her. "Do you know it?"

Serah nodded, beaming up at him. "When two people stand under the mistletoe, they have to kiss. That's the tradition."

"I think we're standing mostly under it, don't you?" Snow asked with a warm smile.

"No, you're not," Lightning interrupted gruffly.

Snow cast a nervous look in her direction and began to pull away.

"No, wait." Serah placed her hands on either side of Snow's face and tugged him back toward her. She sent a dark look at her sister as though to tell her not to interfere before she smiled adorably up at Snow. "We're definitely standing under it."

Snow glanced cautiously at Light, who merely rolled her eyes and looked away.

Chuckling lightly, Snow wrapped his arms around Serah's waist and pulled her against him. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers. Their kiss was short but lingering, and it left Serah with flushed cheeks and dreamy eyes.

"Oh Snow, I'm so happy that we're together," Serah squeaked gently.

"Me, too," Snow replied gently as he rubbed their foreheads together.

Fang watched the two of them with a smirk before glancing at Vanille. "Look at them, all sappy and romantic."

"We used to be like that," Vanille commented with a sigh.

"Used to?" Fang furrowed her brows. "What d'you mean _used to_?"

"Well, I don't see you kissing _me_, and we're the ones actually standing under the mistletoe," Vanille replied with a cute pout. "You don't wanna kiss me anymore, Fang?"

Fang raised her brow playfully and placed her hands on Vanille's hips, tugging her closer and leaning down to press her lips close to her ear. "If you want me to kiss you, Vanille, all you've gotta do is say so."

The younger girl giggled and pulled back to look at her, brushing a few stray hairs out of her face before tracing her fingers along Fang's jaw line. The two of them looked deeply into each other's eyes before leaning in for a tame but breathtaking kiss.

As they pulled apart, they heard Hope choke on his drink and Fang began to laugh as Vanille glanced sheepishly at the others.

Lightning rolled her eyes. "If you're done, I'd like to go home and kill myself."

"You can't kill yourself, Light. Tomorrow's Christmas, and I've got a present I know you'll love," Fang replied with a teasing grin as she wrapped her arm around Vanille's waist and began to tug the girl toward the door. "It's just what you need."

"If it's another prank, I'll kill you," Lightning informed her matter-of-factly.

"I never play pranks," Fang replied rather seriously, though she cracked a smile when Vanille snorted.

The group of them walked to the car together, and by the time that they returned to Lightning's house, they were all so exhausted that everyone went to bed.

xxx

Vanille awoke from a strange dream involving dancing sugar plums and a plump bearded man in a red suit and shifted beneath the warm seats. A faint smile tickled her features as she snuggled against the warm form beside her. A quick glance out the window told her that the sun had risen and it was far too early to awaken, so she buried her face in Fang's chest, cuddled against her love until she was comfortable, and then closed her eyes and promptly returned to sleep.

The next time that Vanille awoke, she found that she was facing the other direction and her legs were sprawled across the mattress, which led her to worry that she had accidentally kicked Fang in her sleep. With a pout, she turned over to apologize, but she was surprised to find that the bed was empty. The blankets were still warm, proving that Fang had not left long before she had awoken, but she was still sad to find herself completely alone. Sighing, she snuggled into Fang's pillow, breathing in the scent of her, and tried to decide if she should look for her or not.

Vanille suddenly heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and glanced over her shoulder with a surprised look on her sleepy face.

"You're up," Fang commented with a grin as she crossed the room and sat on the side of the bed. As she ran her fingers through Vanille's hair, she asked gently, "Sleep well?"

"Yep," Vanille chirped happily as she leaned into Fang as the other woman stroked her hair. "How about you?"

"I was sleeping great until this foot came out of nowhere and kicked me right in the side," Fang replied with a teasing grin. "It left a nice bruise on my hip. Wanna see?"

Vanille bit her lip and blushed. "I kicked you again? I'm sorry, Fang!"

"It's okay. I'm pretty used to it by now," Fang replied with a chuckle as she leaned forwards and kissed the top of Vanille's head. "You know what day it is?"

"Christmas morning," Vanille replied excitedly as she sat up and leaned back against the headboard. "Does that mean I get a present?"

"It means you get more than one," Fang replied with a faint grin. "And I'm gonna give you the first one right now."

"Really?" Vanille raised her brow curiously. "What is it, Fang?"

"You've gotten open it to find out," Fang replied as she tugged open the drawer on Vanille's nightstand and pulled out a box that was long and flat and passed it to her.

"My first Christmas present," the younger woman chirped happily as she immediately began to undo the large red ribbon that had been tied around the green package.

Fang watched with anticipation, a faint curve in her lips.

Vanille eventually tore the paper and took the top off of the box, but when she saw what was inside, her head tilted to the side in confusion. She removed the gift carefully, holding it in her hands and raising her brow. "A pair of socks?"

"Yep. Aren't they cute?" Fang asked, pointing out the pattern of baby chocobos on the sides of the pink socks.

"Definitely!" Vanille feigned excitedly before she glanced at Fang curiously. "I don't wear socks, Fang."

"I know." Fang laughed lightly. "But I thought you might like some, since it's a lot colder here than it is in Oerba."

Vanille's features lit with realization and her eyes widened. "Fang…are we staying here? I mean, do you want to stay here?"

"I dunno, but that's what you want, isn't it?" Fang took her hand, gently running her thumb back and forth over her palm. "You wanna stay here close to our friends, right?"

Biting her lip, the younger woman looked away. "I dunno, Fang. I've been thinking about it a lot…but I would go wherever you go."

"I know," Fang smiled warmly and brushed Vanille's bangs out of her eyes. "But you wanna stay here, and I wanna be wherever you are."

"Are you sure?" Vanille asked gently, pouting.

"Of course, I'm sure. There's nowhere else for me except right here by your side," Fang replied firmly. "How else would I know important things like when to stop playing pranks and where all the pretty flowers grow?"

"Fang, I dunno where the pretty flowers grow here," Vanille giggled.

"You will come spring," Fang replied with a grin as she leaned forwards to kiss Vanille's cheek. "I want you to be happy, Vanille. That's the most important thing to me. I don't mind living here as long as we get our own house—and it has to be in the woods."

"It's a deal," Vanille replied happily before throwing her arms around Fang's neck and kissing her enthusiastically.

Fang laughed against her lips and pulled gently away. "So, aren't you gonna try on those socks? I didn't know what size to get."

Vanille thought that was a strange request, but she did not want Fang to think she did not like her present, especially because she was so pleased by the prospect that Fang had realized the way that she was feeling and was prepared to remain living close to Troth. So, with a nod, she pulled the two socks apart.

An explosion of confetti erupted from the socks, causing Fang to burst out laughing.

"Fang!" Vanille gasped, feigning sadness. "You played a prank on me. You promised no more pranks!"

"I never said for how long," Fang replied with a smirk as she leaned forwards and tugged Vanille into her arms. "Besides, it's not a prank. It's a celebration! The world is safe, we're no longer frozen in crystal, and now we get a chance to live the life we deserved all along."

"You're right, Fang." Vanille bit her lip to keep from smiling too brightly.

With a grin, Fang brushed a bit of confetti off of Vanille's nose and leaned forward to peck her lips.

"I was wondering how long it'd take for you to play a prank on me," Vanille informed her with a giggle. "You made a big mess, Fang. Lightning'll be so mad."

"I don't care," Fang insisted with a teasing look. "I got to see you smile, and that's all that matters to me."

A bright smile played across Vanille's features as she pressed closer to Fang. "You're so sweet!"

Fang laughed and bowed her head to capture Vanille's lips. As their kisses grew in passion, the two of them pressed against each other. Vanille cupped Fang's face in her hands, leaning into deeper kisses, and Fang slid her hands up the younger woman's back before she nudged her gently back onto the bed, beginning to slide her nightshirt up over her ribcage.

"Fang!" Vanille protested with a giggle, squirming beneath her. "It's too messy here. We'll get confetti all over us!"

"So what?" Fang shrugged playfully. "We'll just be extra sparkly."

Vanille giggled and shook her head. "There's too much confetti!"

Fang considered that as she kissed the younger woman's neck. Vanille leaned into Fang's touch, sighing distractedly.

As Fang's lips hovered close to Vanille's ear, she murmured, "I hear the shower's nice and confetti-free."

The two of them shared a playful look before sliding off of the bed and stumbling toward the bathroom between kisses.

xxx

A few hours later, everyone found themselves sitting around the Christmas tree opening presents and hugging each other gratefully. The majority of the friends knew each other well enough that they were able to purchase gifts that each other would like, such as hunting tools for Fang, weapons for Lightning and Snow, and school supplies and decorations for Serah. Everyone loved the jewelry and traditional clothes that Vanille had made as gifts when she and Fang had returned to Oerba, and even the mostly humorous gifts that Fang distributed were appreciated.

By lunchtime, everyone had received their gifts and they were all preparing for the light Christmas lunch that would be followed by a delicious dinner feast when Fang suddenly exclaimed, "Light, I almost forgot about your present!"

Lightning, who was sitting not far away tinkering with a brand new sniper gunblade that Snow had purchased for her, raised her head to look at Fang and narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you notice you never got a present from me?" Fang asked with a surprised look. "I said I was gonna give you one, but I forgot all about it. I had to go out and get it yesterday. Otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Where is it?" Lightning asked suspiciously. "If this is a prank…"

Fang ignored her accusation, exclaiming, "It's out in the garage. I'll go get it now."

Lightning narrowed her eyes, glancing at Sazh. "What kind of present do you keep in the garage?"

He shrugged, shaking his head.

"Here it is!" Fang exclaimed loudly as she walked back inside carrying a large gift bag. She set it on the ground in front of Lightning and then sat down beside Vanille. "Go ahead and open it."

Lightning pursed her lips as she studied the gift bag. "Fang?"

"Yeah, Light?"

"Why is the bag moving?" She demanded.

"You'll see when you look inside, won't you?" Fang replied with a humorous expression.

Concerned but unwilling to show any trepidation, Lightning immediately opened the bag and peered inside. Her eyes widened and she glanced up at Fang in shock. "Is this a baby wolf?"

"It's a wolfdog pup," Fang replied with an excited grin. "See? I said I was getting you a real gift."

"A wolfdog?" Lightning asked as she reached cautiously into the bag and pulled out the small canine. "Is is safe?"

"Of course, it's safe. You think I'd give you something dangerous?" Fang chuckled and shook her head. "We didn't have wolfdogs in the village until the year before Vanille and I became l'Cie when some traders brought in a bunch of them. They're loyal, protective, and damn good hunters."

Lightning stared at the animal, which she held uncomfortably in her arms. The shaggy black dog with piercing yellow eyes and a very wolf-like face stared at her, whimpering. "Why did you get this for me?"

"Well, I don't want you to be lonely, but you said I can't set you up with someone," Fang replied with a shrug. "I figured a dog wasn't out of the question. Everyone likes pets."

Lightning was unsure whether or not she wanted to have a pet, but there was something so adorable about the ferocious looking puppy in her arms.

"I think she likes it, but I'm not sure," Fang whispered to Vanille as she wrapped her arm around her waist. "What d'you think?"

"I can't tell." Vanille smiled and rested her cheek against Fang's shoulder. "I'm surprised you didn't get a wolfdog for yourself, Fang. You always said you wanted one."

Fang smiled sheepishly. "Well…"

A scratching sound at the garage door caused Serah to stand up and curiously peer outside. She screeched in surprise when yet another wolfdog pup raced passed her legs into the living room. The puppy ran past the Christmas tree, its wagging tail knocking a few ornaments to the floor, and it paused in front of Fang, pawing at her legs and whimpering.

"Fang," Vanille giggled as she looked at the puppy. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"I wasn't gonna get one, but then Light's was just so cute," Fang replied with a faint smile. Frowning, she added, "I thought you might not like it either after your chocobo ran away. Are you okay with it?"

"Of course. When Nena left I was really sad, but I love pets!" Vanille grinned happily. "What're we gonna call him? Or is it a her?"

"It's a boy, but I dunno what to name him," Fang answered. "I've been trying to think of something really good. I mean, I want him to hunt with me, so he's gotta have a name that's scary, but it can't be too scary in case I take him into town with me. I was thinking maybe Scar or Beast or Slayer—"

"Can we call him Kiwi?" Vanille interrupted with a grin. "I tried kiwi for the first time at the party last night and it was so good!"

"Kiwi?" Fang asked exasperatedly. "What kind of name is that for a hunter?"

"It's perfect," Vanille argued gently. "No one will ever suspect a dog named Kiwi is ferocious at all. I thought the element of surprise was the best thing a hunter could have."

"Yeah, but the other animals won't know the difference," Fang argued gently. "We can't call him Kiwi."

"Of course, we can. Look!" Vanille patted her legs and looked at the dog, "Come here, Kiwi!"

The puppy immediately scurried into Vanille's arms and licked her face.

"See, Fang?" Vanille giggled as she hugged the large puppy close. "He likes it."

Fang chuckled and hugged both Vanille and the puppy close. "Then I guess his name's Kiwi. What about yours, Light?"

Lightning stared at the puppy, who was playing with her hand rather roughly but refraining from cutting her. "Ripper."

"See, now _that_ would've been a good name for ours," Fang informed Vanille with a teasing look.

"I like Kiwi better," Vanille replied with a pretend huff before she returned to giggling as she played with the puppy's ears.

xxx

A hush moved through the living room as they heard footsteps on the attic stairs. Lightning's ears pricked and she glanced upwards, a faint smirk growing on her features.

"Claire," Serah intervened gently, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Lightning narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Fang deserves this."

Serah bit her lip nervously. "Claire, please don't. What if Fang didn't play those pranks? And even if she did, you can't fight pranks with pranks. Haven't you ever watched a movie? That never works."

"Be quiet," Lightning hissed narrowing her eyes at everyone. "Listen up! Serah, you talk to Snow about your wedding. Hope, Dajh, and Sazh, play video games. If anyone so much as looks in the direction of the kitchen or says anything suspicious at all, you're _all_ kicked out."

"But Claire—"

"No buts!" Lightning growled.

Everyone nodded meekly and turned to the tasks to which they had been assigned.

Lightning seated herself on the couch and picked up a magazine, paging through as she put to use all of the clandestine skills she had developed while she was training to be a soldier.

Fang walked down the stairs with Vanille in tow. The two of them walked into the living room and sat down beside each other, chatting about something mundane. Lightning did not bother to listen to them, because she knew that if she paid too close attention, Fang would suspect something.

As though she could hear Lightning's thoughts, Fang suddenly glanced around the room. She noticed how nervous Serah looked, and she could almost feel the tension. "Why're you all so quiet?"

Lightning looked up with narrowed eyes. "What's wrong with being quiet? I _like_ quiet."

Fang raised her brow. "This is a strange silence, like someone's hiding something."

"You're paranoid," Lightning grumbled with a roll of her eyes before returning to her magazine.

The dark-haired Gran Pulsian studied her suspiciously for a few minutes before she shrugged it off. "Where'd Kiwi and Ripper go?"

"In the basement tearing the pillows apart last I saw them," Sazh replied absently as he struggled to button mash fast enough to beat his son at the fighting game they were playing.

"What?!" Lightning nearly dropped her magazine.

"Er, I haven't seen them," Sazh replied with a nervous look.

Lightning glared at him for a moment before shaking her head and deciding that she would go downstairs and check on the dogs later. However, she was _not_ going to miss her own victory.

"You're not worried about the dogs tearing up your house, Light?" Fang furrowed her brows suspiciously. "Now I know something's going on. You're not trying to play another prank on me, are you?"

"_Another_ prank?" Serah's eyes widened.

Lightning glared at her sister before turning her steely gaze upon Fang. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Vanille suddenly intervened, hugging Fang's arm and sighing. "Fang, I'm really hungry. Can we make some breakfast?"

Fang glanced at the woman beside her with a faint smile. "That depends. What do you wanna eat?"

"I dunno. I'd go look in the fridge, but I'm still kind of sleepy," Vanille sighed as she buried her face in Fang's arm. "I don't think I can get up."

"You don't have to," Fang informed her cheerfully, pressing her lips to Vanille's forehead. "I'll go look and tell you what's in there."

"You don't have to, Fang!" Vanille insisted with a pout. "I'll come with you."

"It's fine." Fang smiled at her before standing up and walking past Lightning.

When Fang pushed the kitchen door open, a bucket fell off of the top of the door, pouring water all over her.

"Yes!" Lightning shouted excitedly, practically jumping out of her seat.

Fang looked down at herself, standing somewhat rigid from the surprise of being soaked, before she turned around to face the others.

"I got you!" Lightning informed her with a smug look. "I finally got you."

"Claire, you were really trying to play pranks on Fang before?" Serah pouted with disappointment. "I thought she was lying."

"Sure, she was, Serah. She put all that dye in your shampoo and dyed Hope's hair green," Fang replied as she narrowed her eyes at Lightning. "She was trying to get me, of course."

"So what?" Lightning challenged, crossing her arms. "_You_ broke the sink, put dye in Serah's toothpaste, made Snow's soap itchy, _and_ made everyone think I'm crazy."

"I didn't do any of that," Fang replied with a smirk.

"Then _I_ didn't do that," Lightning replied as she motioned to the bucket, which had fallen onto the floor. "I guess the bucket just tricked you by itself."

"Oh, I know you didn't do this," Fang informed her with a smirk as she placed her hands on her hips and glanced at the true culprit. "The one who tricked me is your partner in crime there."

Serah gasped, her eyes widening. "V-Vanille?"

Vanille covered her mouth with her hand to keep from giggling. "Fang, you're all wet!"

"I know," Fang smirked faintly. "And _you_ helped Lightning play a prank on me."

"It was only fair, Fang," Vanille replied with a playful look. "Besides, you've played hundreds of pranks on me."

Fang smiled nostalgically, but her hands remained firmly placed on her hips. "You're in trouble, you know."

"You're the one who's all wet, so I think you're in trouble, Fang," Vanille replied with a triumphant grin.

"You know, I'm not mad at you at all. In fact, I think we should hug and make up," Fang informed her with a smile.

Vanille raised her brow in confusion before standing up and shaking her head. "No way, Fang. I just finished getting ready, and you're all wet!"

"That's what you keep saying," Fang replied with a shrug as she took a step forwards and opened her arms. "You don't wanna hug me?"

"I was being nice, you know," Vanille informed her as she took a step backwards. "Lightning wanted to use vinegar but I said no."

"That _was_ nice of you. Come here and I'll thank you." Fang smirked and suddenly lunged toward her.

Vanille suddenly raced around the couch, the sound of her giggles following her up the stairs as she tried to run away. "You can't hug me, Fang! I don't wanna change my clothes."

"I didn't wanna change my clothes either, but _I_ don't have a choice, now do I?" Fang replied teasingly as she chased Vanille up the stairs and caught her around the waist on the second floor.

Vanille laughed and wrapped her arms around Fang's leaning back against her. She smiled at the feeling of Fang's wet hair brushing against her bare shoulder and asked, "Are you really mad at me?"

"Nope," Fang replied with a grin as she pressed her cheek against Vanille's shoulder and squeezed her tightly. "You're too cute. I could never be mad at you."

Vanille smiled brightly and twisted around in Fang's arms, hugging her around the waist. "Fang, now my clothes are all messy. I've gotta change."

"Sorry," Fang replied with a grin as she kissed her cheek. "I just like hugging you so much."

Vanille smiled at that and leaned forward into her embrace. Snuggling against her, she murmured, "I was really scared we were gonna get thrown out at first, but staying here has been really fun. I missed everyone a lot."

Fang made a noise of agreement and rested her cheek against the top of Vanille's head. The two of them pressed silently against each other for a while before Fang murmured, "Do you think I should wait to tell Light we're gonna need to stay here for a while?"

Giggling, Vanille suggested, "You should ask Serah instead. Light'll never say yes."

"You're probably right." Fang smirked as she suddenly hooked one arm under Vanille's legs and lifted her off her feet.

Vanille squealed in surprise and threw her arms around Fang's neck.

"The others are all busy and we need to change our clothes anyway, so let's move this party upstairs, shall we?" Fang murmured playfully, a smirk curling onto her lips.

"Am I still in trouble?" Vanille asked with a grin.

"You're about to find out," Fang informed her with a wink as she began to carry her up the stairs.

"Fang!" Vanille giggled, blushing.

Fang nudged the bedroom door open with her foot and set Vanille down. Laughing, she wrapped the younger woman in her arms and leaned forwards to kiss her. "Merry Christmas, Vanille. I think this might be my new favorite holiday."

"Merry Christmas, Fang!" Vanille replied cheerfully, snuggling against her.


End file.
